title: Acute effect of stretching one leg on regional arterial stiffness in young men.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Our previous study demonstrated that a single bout of stretching exercises acutely reduced arterial stiffness. We hypothesized that this acute vascular response is due to regional mechanical stimulation of the peripheral arteries. To test this hypothesis, we examined the effect of a single bout of passive one leg stretching on arterial stiffness, comparing the stretched and the non-stretched leg in the same subject.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-five healthy young men (20.9 ± 0.3 years, 172.5 ± 1.4 cm, 64.1 ± 1.2 kg) volunteered for the study. Subjects underwent a passive calf stretching on one leg (six repetitions of 30-s static stretch with a 10-s recovery). Pulse wave velocity (PWV, an index of arterial stiffness), blood pressure (BP), and heart rate (HR) were measured before and immediately, 15, and 30 min after the stretching.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Femoral-ankle PWV (faPWV) in the stretched leg was significantly decreased from baseline (835.0 ± 15.9 cm/s) to immediately (802.9 ± 16.8 cm/s, P < 0.01) and 15 min (810.5 ± 16.0 cm/s, P < 0.01) after the stretching, despite no changes in systolic and diastolic BP, or HR. However, faPWV in the non-stretched leg was not significantly altered at any time. Brachial-ankle PWV (baPWV) also showed similar responses with faPWV, but this response was not significant. Additionally, the passive stretching did not alter carotid-femoral PWV (cfPWV).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggest that mechanical stimulation to peripheral arteries as induced by static passive stretch may modulate arterial wall properties directly, rather than resulting in a systemic effect.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Sport and Health Science, Ritsumeikan University, 1-1-1 Nojihigashi, Kusatsu, Shiga, 525-8577, Japan.|Department of Physical Therapy, Aino University, Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: Yosuke
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yamato
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Sport and Health Science, Ritsumeikan University, 1-1-1 Nojihigashi, Kusatsu, Shiga, 525-8577, Japan.
authors.forename: Natsuki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hasegawa
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Sport and Health Science, Ritsumeikan University, 1-1-1 Nojihigashi, Kusatsu, Shiga, 525-8577, Japan.
authors.forename: Shumpei
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fujie
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Toyo University, Saitama, Japan.
authors.forename: Shigehiko
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ogoh
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Sport and Health Science, Ritsumeikan University, 1-1-1 Nojihigashi, Kusatsu, Shiga, 525-8577, Japan. iemitsu@fc.ritsumei.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Motoyuki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Iemitsu
mesh_terms: D001794:Blood Pressure; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D007866:Leg / Q000098:blood supply / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D052580:Muscle Stretching Exercises / Q000009:adverse effects*; D063177:Pulse Wave Analysis; D011897:Random Allocation; D012039:Regional Blood Flow; D059289:Vascular Stiffness; D014664:Vasodilation; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Blood pressure; Pulse wave velocity; Stretching; Vasodilation