Hemodynamic Hyper‐reactivity to Acute Stress in Individuals Reporting Adversity during Childhood: Role of Endothelin‐1

Abstract

Individuals exposed to adverse childhood experiences (ACE) have an increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease versus those with no ACE. Moreover, these individuals also exhibit an exaggerated blood pressure response to an acute sympathetic stressor; a response that is associated with an increased risk of developing hypertension and shown to be mediated by endothelin‐1 (ET‐1) in animal models. The role of ET‐1 as a modulator of the hemodynamic response to acute stress in humans with high ACE, however, is unknown.PurposeTo compare hemodynamic and plasma ET‐1 responses to a cold pressor test (CPT) in individuals who reported high ACE versus matched controls with no reported ACE.Methods14 participants volunteered for this investigation; 7 of which reported an ACE score ≥4 via questionnaire (HI‐ACE; 5 men, 2 women) and 7 control participants (CON) who were matched for age, ethnicity, sex, and body composition. All participants underwent a CPT protocol which consisted of a 5 min baseline followed by immersion of the right hand up to the wrist in ice water (~2°C) for 3 min. Hemodynamic parameters including total peripheral resistance index (TPRI), cardiac index (CI), and systolic/diastolic blood pressure (SBP/DBP) were measured throughout the protocol using beat‐to‐beat monitoring of finger arterial pressure (Finapres NOVA). Plasma concentrations of ET‐1 were determined at baseline and during the second minute of the CPT.ResultsThere were no differences (all p>0.05) between groups in age, ethnicity, sex, body composition, or fasting blood glucose. Similarly, there were no differences (all p>0.05) in baseline values of TPRI (0.39 ± 0.31 vs. 0.43 ± 0.25 mmHg/ml/m2), CI (3.5 ± 0.8 vs. 3.5 ± 0.6 L/min/m2), SBP (134 ± 14 vs. 133 ± 12 mmHg), or DBP (83 ± 10 vs. 85 ± 11 mmHg) between HI‐ACE and CON. During CPT, a significantly greater increase in SBP (48 ± 20 vs. 29 ± 10 mmHg; p=0.041) and DBP (35 ± 15 vs. 19 ± 5 mmHg; p=0.028) occurred in HI‐ACE compared to CON. While concentrations of ET‐1 at baseline were similar between HI‐ACE and CON (1.28 ± 0.21 vs. 1.22 ± 0.33 pg/ml, respectively), the ET‐1 response during CPT tended (p=0.098) to be higher in HI‐ACE versus CON (Δ1.12 ± 0.03 vs. Δ0.50 ± 0.37 pg/ml).ConclusionThese data suggest that greater plasma concentrations of ET‐1 accompany the exaggerated hemodynamic response to a CPT in individuals who reported high ACE. Future studies are warranted to further elucidate the role of ET‐1 as a mediator of hemodynamic responses to acute stress in individuals with high ACE.Support or Funding InformationSupported in part by NIH/NHLBI P01HL06999.This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.