Search resultsBlood Pressure and Arterial Stiffness after a Maximal Aerobic Exercise in Young Adult Binge Drinkers and Moderate Drinkers.
Exaggerated systolic blood pressure (SBP) response to exercise predicts the development of hypertension. In normotensive young adults, alcohol consumption is associated with increased arterial stiffness, which potentially influence exercise SBP response. Young adults who have alcohol drinking habits usually exercise regularly, but their exercise SBP response has received little attention. Whether alcoholic drinking pattern influences exercise SBP response remains to be determined. The purpose of this study is two-fold: 1) to investigate SBP and arterial stiffness in response to maximal aerobic exercise; and 2) to examine if alcoholic drinking pattern influences the response. Twenty healthy young adults (9 women; age: 27±3 years; BMI: 24.1±2.1 kg/m ; mean±SD) with a history of alcohol consumption over the past year were included in this study. Based on the self-reported alcoholic drinking pattern, participants were categorized as binge drinkers (n=10; BD) or moderate drinkers (n=10; MOD). Brachial SBP and central SBP and arterial stiffness (carotid to femoral pulse wave velocity; cfPWV) were measured before and after a maximal graded exercise test on a cycle ergometer. At the end of maximal exercise, brachial SBP increased (BD: 110±13 vs. 172±15 mmHg; pre- vs. post-ex; P<0.0005 and MOD: 110±9 vs. 158±22 mmHg; P<0.0005), regardless of drinking pattern (P=0.1 for BD vs. MOD). Central systolic BP (BD: 101±10 vs. 113±7 mmHg and MOD: 102±8 vs. 112±8 mmHg; P≤0.01 for both groups) increased in all participants after exercise (obtained ~ 4min post-ex), regardless of drinking pattern (P=0.5 for BD vs. MOD). After exercise (~15 min), cfPWV did not increase in MOD (5.6±0.8 vs. 5.7±1.1 m/s; P=0.8), while cfPWV increased in BD (5.5±0.5 vs. 6.3±0.9 m/s; P=0.02). In conclusion, our study found that SBP response to maximal aerobic exercise was similar between BD and MOD. However, arterial stiffness was higher following maximal aerobic exercise in BD, suggesting a negative adaptation in vasculature associated with binge drinking. Future studies with larger sample sizes and a group of alcohol abstainers are needed to confirm our findings.