Do acute effects of exercise on vascular function predict adaptation to training?

Ellen A Dawson,Daniel J Green,Dick H J Thijssen,N Timothy Cable

doi:10.1007/s00421-017-3724-8

Abstract

PurposeNo previous study has explored the importance of exercise-induced changes in vascular function to prolonged adaptations. Therefore, the purpose was to explore the within-subject relationship between the acute post-exercise change in brachial artery endothelial function (flow-mediated dilation, FMD) and the change in resting FMD after a 2-week exercise training in healthy volunteers.MethodsTwenty one healthy, young men (24 ± 5 years) underwent assessment of brachial artery FMD using high-resolution ultrasound before and after 30-min of moderate-intensity cycle exercise (80% maximal heart rate). Subsequently, subjects performed five 30-min cycle exercise bouts at 80% maximal heart rate across a 2-week period, followed by repeat assessment of resting brachial FMD post-training. ResultsCorrecting for changes in diameter and shear, FMD did not change after the initial exercise bout (P = 0.26). However, a significant correlation was found between post-exercise changes in FMD and adaptation in resting FMD after training (r = 0.634, P = 0.002), where an acute decrease in post-exercise FMD resulted in a decrease in baseline FMD after 2 weeks and vice versa. We also found a positive correlation between antegrade shear rate during exercise and change in FMD% after acute exercise and after exercise training (r = 0.529 and 0.475, both P < 0.05).ConclusionOur findings suggest that acute post-exercise changes in vascular function are related to changes in resting FMD after a 2-week endurance exercise training period in healthy men, an effect that may be related to exercise-induced increases in antegrade shear rate. This provides further insight into the relevance of acute changes in shear and FMD for subsequent adaptation.

Highlights

Exercise training has strong cardioprotective effects in healthy asymptomatic individuals and in those with established cardiovascular disease (Booth et al 2002)
A review of this literature proposed that acute exercise leads to a biphasic response in endothelial function [measured as the flow-mediated dilation (FMD)] after intense exercise, with initial decreases in FMD superseded by return to normal or supra-normal levels 1–2 h after exercise (Dawson et al 2013)
We found that target HR (80% of maximal heart rate; 152 ± 4 bpm) was successfully achieved during exercise bouts, with average heart rate across all exercise sessions being 149 ± 6 bpm

Summary

Introduction

Exercise training has strong cardioprotective effects in healthy asymptomatic individuals and in those with established cardiovascular disease (Booth et al 2002). A review of this literature proposed that acute exercise leads to a biphasic response in endothelial function [measured as the flow-mediated dilation (FMD)] after intense exercise, with initial decreases in FMD superseded by return to normal or supra-normal levels 1–2 h after exercise (Dawson et al 2013). This initial decrease may represent a hormesis stimulus, subsequently leading to improvement in resting vascular function. To date, no previous study directly examined the relationship between acute vascular responses to exercise bout and subsequent training-induced vascular adaptation

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