Exercise pressor response in healthy Hispanic Adults

Hispanic adults (HA) have the highest prevalence of type 2 diabetes and obesity compared to any other ethnic/racial group in the United States. Given that hypertension is a common comorbidity in diabetic patients, this further increases the cardiovascular risk in HA. In fact, recent data indicate an increased mortality attributable to hypertension in HA. Despite accumulating evidence of health disparities in the HA population, studies investigating the mechanism are lacking. Previous studies have demonstrated an exaggerated exercise pressor response in patients with hypertension and type 2 diabetes, two common risk factors highly prevalent in HA. In this study, we investigated whether young, healthy HA exhibit an augmented pressor response during exercise compared to the age-matched non-Hispanic White (NHW) adults. In 5 Hispanic (age 21±1 years; BMI 23±1 kg/m2; MVC= 76±5kg) and 6 NHW adults (age 22±2 years; BMI 24±1 kg/m2; MVC=75±5 kg), blood pressure (finger photoplethysmography) and heart rate (ECG) were measured at rest and during 2 min of static handgrip exercise performed at 30% and 40% of their maximal voluntary contraction (MVC). Muscle metaboreflex was isolated by post-exercise ischemia (PEI; supra-systolic cuff inflation of the exercising arm) for 2 min. A cold pressor test (CPT) was also performed as a generalized sympatho-excitatory stimulus. Resting mean arterial pressure was similar in both the groups (HA=77±2 mmHg vs. NHW=79±7 mmHg, p=0.79). The increase in blood pressure during exercise was not different between HA and NHW (ΔMAP: 40% MVC; HW=44±9 mmHg vs NHW=40±3 mmHg; p=0.74). Similarly, MAP during isolation of muscle metaboreflex did not reach statistical significance when compared between HA and NHW (ΔMAP: 40% MVC PEI, HW=42±7.3 vs NHW=34±1.6 mmHg; p=0.16). During CPT, HA had a significantly higher increase in blood pressure compared to NHW (ΔMAP: HW=30±6 mmHg vs NHW=20±2 mmHg; p=0.09). These preliminary data suggest that while exercise pressor reflex is not augmented in young, healthy HA, the heightened pressor response to a non-exercise stimulus potentially indicates exaggerated sympathetic reactivity in this population. Supported by Kinesiology and Health Education UT Austin Start-up Account 19-2635-91 This is the full abstract presented at the American Physiology Summit 2023 meeting and is only available in HTML format. There are no additional versions or additional content available for this abstract. Physiology was not involved in the peer review process.