Brachial artery FMD (flow-mediated dilation) is impaired with aging and is associated with an increased risk of CVD (cardiovascular disease). In the present study, we determined whether regular aerobic exercise improves brachial artery FMD in MA/O (middle-aged/older) men and post-menopausal women. In sedentary MA/O adults (age, 55–79 years) without CVD, 8 weeks of brisk walking (6 days/week for approx. 50 min/day; randomized controlled design) increased treadmill time approx. 20% in both MA/O men (n=11) and post-menopausal women (n=15) (P<0.01), without altering body composition or circulating CVD risk factors. Brachial artery FMD increased >50% in the MA/O men (from 4.6±0.6 to 7.1±0.6%; P<0.01), but did not change in the post-menopausal women (5.1±0.8 compared with 5.4±0.7%; P=0.50). No changes occurred in the non-exercising controls. In a separate cross-sectional study (n=167), brachial artery FMD was approx. 50% greater in endurance-exercise-trained (6.4±0.4%; n=45) compared with sedentary (4.3±0.3%; n=60) MA/O men (P<0.001), whereas there were no differences between endurance-trained (5.3±0.7%, n=20) and sedentary (5.6±0.5%, n=42) post-menopausal women (P=0.70). Brachial artery lumen diameter, peak hyperaemic shear rate and endothelium-independent dilation did not differ with exercise intervention or in the endurance exercise compared with sedentary groups. In conclusion, regular aerobic exercise is consistently associated with enhanced brachial artery FMD in MA/O men, but not in post-menopausal women. Some post-menopausal women without CVD may be less responsive to habitual aerobic exercise than MA/O men.
Skip Nav Destination
Article navigation
Research Article|
September 14 2010
Sex-specific effects of habitual aerobic exercise on brachial artery flow-mediated dilation in middle-aged and older adults
Gary L. Pierce;
1Department of Integrative Physiology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, U.S.A.
Correspondence: Dr Gary L. Pierce at his present address: Georgia Prevention Institute, School of Medicine, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA 30912, U.S.A. (email [email protected]).
Search for other works by this author on:
Iratxe Eskurza;
Iratxe Eskurza
1Department of Integrative Physiology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, U.S.A.
Search for other works by this author on:
Ashley E. Walker;
Ashley E. Walker
1Department of Integrative Physiology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, U.S.A.
Search for other works by this author on:
Tara N. Fay;
Tara N. Fay
1Department of Integrative Physiology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, U.S.A.
Search for other works by this author on:
Douglas R. Seals
Douglas R. Seals
1Department of Integrative Physiology, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, U.S.A.
Search for other works by this author on:
Publisher: Portland Press Ltd
Received:
March 16 2010
Revision Received:
June 23 2010
Accepted:
July 19 2010
Accepted Manuscript online:
July 19 2010
Online ISSN: 1470-8736
Print ISSN: 0143-5221
© The Authors Journal compilation © 2011 Biochemical Society
2011
Clin Sci (Lond) (2011) 120 (1): 13–23.
Article history
Received:
March 16 2010
Revision Received:
June 23 2010
Accepted:
July 19 2010
Accepted Manuscript online:
July 19 2010
Citation
Gary L. Pierce, Iratxe Eskurza, Ashley E. Walker, Tara N. Fay, Douglas R. Seals; Sex-specific effects of habitual aerobic exercise on brachial artery flow-mediated dilation in middle-aged and older adults. Clin Sci (Lond) 1 January 2011; 120 (1): 13–23. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/CS20100174
Download citation file:
Sign in
Don't already have an account? Register
Sign in to your personal account
You could not be signed in. Please check your email address / username and password and try again.
Could not validate captcha. Please try again.
Biochemical Society Member Sign in
Sign InSign in via your Institution
Sign in via your InstitutionGet Access To This Article
Open Access for all
We offer compliant routes for all authors from 2025. With library support, there will be no author nor reader charges in 5 journals. Check here |
![]() |