Abstract
ABSTRACT Objective To investigate whether acute citrulline supplementation might influence post-exercise hypotension in normotensive and hypertensive individuals. Methods Following a randomized double-blind design, twenty normotensive (28±7 years, 74±17kg, 1.7±0.09m) and 20 hypertensive individuals (55±12 years, 76±15kg, 1.59±0.09m) were randomly assigned to one of the four experimental groups (Normotensive-Placebo; Normotensive-Citrulline; Hypertensive-Placebo; Hypertensive-Citrulline). The placebo groups ingested 6g of corn starch and the citrulline groups ingested 6g of citrulline dissolved in water. The participants performed 40 minutes of walking/running on a treadmill at 60-70% heart rate reserve. Blood pressure was measured immediately after a 60-min exercise session using an oscillometric device and 24-h ambulatory monitoring. Results The post-exercise hypotension was more pronounced in hypertensives and the Hypertensive-Citrulline group showed a consistent systolic blood pressure reduction during the laboratorial phase, which can be seen by looking at the mean of 60 minutes (-15.01mmHg vs -3.14mmHg [P=0.005]; -4.16mmHg [P=0.009]; -6.30mmHg [P=0.033] in comparison with the Normotensive-Placebo, Normotensive-Citrulline, and Hypertensive-Placebo groups, respectively). During ambulatory blood pressure monitoring, the Hypertensive-Citrulline group showed a significant reduction in systolic blood pressure (-21.05mmHg) in the awake period compared with the Normotensive-Citrulline group (-3.17mmHg [P=0.010]). Conclusion Acute citrulline oral supplementation can induce greater post-exercise hypotension response in hypertensive than normotensive individuals.
Highlights
Post-Exercise Hypotension (PEH) is defined as a sustained reduction in Blood Pressure (BP) after a single bout of exercise [1] and this transient reduction can last up to 24h after completion of an exercise session [2]
The post-exercise hypotension was more pronounced in hypertensives and the Hypertensive-Citrulline group showed a consistent systolic blood pressure reduction during the laboratorial phase, which can be seen by looking at the mean of 60 minutes (-15.01mmHg vs -3.14mmHg [P=0.005]; -4.16mmHg [P=0.009]; -6.30mmHg [P=0.033] in comparison with the Normotensive-Placebo, Normotensive-Citrulline, and Hypertensive-Placebo groups, respectively)
During ambulatory blood pressure monitoring, the Hypertensive-Citrulline group showed a significant reduction in systolic blood pressure (-21.05mmHg) in the awake period compared with the Normotensive-Citrulline group (-3.17mmHg [P=0.010])
Summary
Post-Exercise Hypotension (PEH) is defined as a sustained reduction in Blood Pressure (BP) after a single bout of exercise [1] and this transient reduction can last up to 24h after completion of an exercise session [2]. PEH is an important physiological event in both hypertensive [3] and pre-hypertensive individuals [4] due to its association with the CITRULLINE AND POST-EXERCISE HYPOTENSION 511 chronic reduction in resting BP provided by physical training. In this sense, subjects who exhibit a greater drop in BP after an exercise session (acute effect) can present a greater reduction in resting BP after training (chronic effect). Previous studies reported that hypertensive individuals present cardiac output reduction [7,8] and normotensives present total peripheral resistance reduction [7,9,10]. Released from endothelial cells, NO increases 3’5’-Cyclic-Guanosine Monophosphate (cGMP) production and subsequent cGMP-dependent protein kinase activation in vascular smooth muscle cells, resulting in vasodilation [11,12]
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