Blood pressure decrease in elderly after isometric training: does lactate play a role?

Luiz Humberto Rodrigues Souza,Milton Rocha Moraes,Lysleine Alves Deus,Rafael Reis Olher,Geiziane Rodrigues Melo,Vivian Cabral Moraes,Rodrigo Vanerson Passos Neves,Clarcson Plácido Santos,Carolina Fonseca De Barros,Hebert Gustavo Simões,Thiago Dos Santos Rosa,João Maurício De Oliveira Coelho,Luiz Henrique Peruchi,Joyce Bomfim Vicente,Hugo De Luca Corrêa

doi:10.33448/rsd-v9i9.7433

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the effect of isometric handgrip (IHG) training on the blood pressure (BP) reduction in prehypertensive and hypertensive elderly people, and the possible role of lactate and redox balance. Thirty-three older (75.3±1.3 years old) were allocated to a non-exercise control (CG, n=11), prehypertensive (PHG, n=10), and hypertensive (HG, n=12) groups. PHG and HG performed a total of 8 sets of 1-min bilateral contractions at 30% maximal voluntary isometric contraction, each separated by 1-minute rest-pause. IHG training was performed for 8-week, 3 times a week on non-consecutive days. Systolic BP (SBP) and heart rate (HR) decreased post-training on PHG (-10 mm Hg; -5 bpm) and HG (-16 mm Hg; -9 bpm), respectively. Diastolic BP (DBP) decreased for HG only (-9 mm Hg) (P < 0.05). In addition, the decrease in BP occurred in parallel to a better redox balance and increased bioavailability of nitric oxide in PHG and HG (P < 0.05). Also, the variables that most present association to SBP decrease were capillary blood lactate concentration and muscle strength (P < 0.05). In summary, IHG training may be practical in improving clinical status of prehypertensive and hypertensive patients, by improving BP control, NO- bioavailability and redox balance. Further studies are required to elucidate the pathways of lactate concentration in blood-flow during exercise.

Highlights

Isometric handgrip (IHG) training performed has shown effective results in controlling blood pressure (BP) in elderly people (Millar, Bray, MacDonald, & McCartney, 2008; Souza et al, 2018), mainly in prehypertensive and hypertensive subjects (Millar et al, 2008; Millar, McGowan, Cornelissen, Araujo, & Swaine, 2014; Peters et al, 2006; Taylor, McCartney, Kamth, & Wiley, 2003)
It was not possible to constitute non-exercise prehypertensive control group; iii) The sample size limited the analysis of gender influence, of medications use and race in the magnitude of BP reduction
Considering that hypertension is a chronic disease and needs continuous lifelong treatment, it is important to ratify that the long-term effects (> 10 weeks) as well as the adjustment of the volume vs. intensity during IHG training about BP control in hypertensive elderly people are still unknown

Summary

Introduction

Isometric handgrip (IHG) training performed has shown effective results in controlling blood pressure (BP) in elderly people (Millar, Bray, MacDonald, & McCartney, 2008; Souza et al, 2018), mainly in prehypertensive and hypertensive subjects (Millar et al, 2008; Millar, McGowan, Cornelissen, Araujo, & Swaine, 2014; Peters et al, 2006; Taylor, McCartney, Kamth, & Wiley, 2003). It has been suggested that changes in the autonomic function (Taylor et al, 2003) and oxidative stress (Peters et al, 2006) may be mechanisms involved in BP control in hypertensive adults and older after IHG training. For isometric exercise, it was demonstrated that after an acute IHG session leading to BP reduction in hypertensive elderly people, no association was observed with NO- (Souza et al, 2018)

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