AUTHOR=Barnes Jill N., Matzek Luke J., Charkoudian Nisha , Joyner Michael J., Curry Timothy B., Hart Emma C. TITLE=Association of Cardiac Baroreflex Sensitivity with Blood Pressure Transients: Influence of Sex and Menopausal Status JOURNAL=Frontiers in Physiology VOLUME=Volume 3 - 2012 YEAR=2012 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/physiology/articles/10.3389/fphys.2012.00187 DOI=10.3389/fphys.2012.00187 ISSN=1664-042X ABSTRACT=
The magnitude of decrease in blood pressure (BP) during a vasoactive drug bolus may be associated with the calculated baroreflex sensitivity (BRS). The purpose of the present study was to evaluate whether sympathetic and/or cardiac BRS relates to the extent of change in BP and whether this was altered by sex hormones. Fifty-one young women (27 ± 1 years), 14 older women (58 ± 1 years), and 36 young men (27 ± 1 years) were studied. Heart rate, BP, and muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) were monitored. Sympathetic BRS was analyzed using the slope of the MSNA-diastolic blood pressure (DBP) relationship and cardiac BRS was analyzed using the R–R interval-systolic blood pressure (SBP) relationship. Young women and men had similar mean arterial pressures (MAP, 91 ± 1 vs. 90 ± 1 mmHg), cardiac BRS (19 ± 1 vs. 21 ± 2 ms/mmHg), and sympathetic BRS (−6 ± 1 vs. −7 ± 1 AU/beat/mmHg), respectively. Older women had higher MAP (104 ± 4 mmHg,