Clinical and Genetic Determinants of Blood Pressure Under Ambulatory Conditions on Days With and Without Acute Exercise

Abstract

OBJECTIVETo identify clinical and genetic factors accounting for the variability in the BP response to acute bouts of dynamic exercise of varying intensity.METHODS48 men (X±SEM 43.9±1.4yr, 29.5±0.7kg•m−2) with hypertension [systolic (SBP)/diastolic (DBP) 145.7±1.5/85.7±1.1mmHg] completed 3 randomly assigned experiments: a cycle exercise bout at LIGHT and VIGOROUS intensity and a CONTROL session of seated rest. Subjects left the laboratory wearing an ambulatory BP monitor. We obtained blood samples for the fasting cardiometabolic profile and genotyping. Multiple variable regression tested correlates of the daytime ambulatory BP response following exercise and CONTROL.RESULTSClinical (30/18%) and genetic (0/6%) factors accounted for 30/24% of the variability in the SBP/DBP response following LIGHT (p=0.01); 27/52% [clinical (13/31%) & genetic (14/21%)] in the SBP/DBP response following VIGOROUS (p=0.01); and 18/29% [clinical (18/29%) & genetic (0/0%)] in the SBP/DBP response following CONTROL (p=0.02).CONCLUSIONOur findings indicate that for every 10% increase in the intensity of a bout of acute dynamic exercise, the genetic contribution accounting for the variability in the SBP/DBP response increased by 1.2/2.0% (R2=0.779, p=0.08/R2=0.967, p=0.01), respectively. No such trends were found with clinical factors.Supported by American Heart Association Grant‐in‐Aid # 0150507N.