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Divergent vascular responses to mental stress in the upright and supine postures
Author(s) -
Kuipers Nathan T.,
Sauder Charity L.,
Ray Chester A.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.20.5.a1428-a
The purpose of this study was to determine visceral and forearm blood flow responses to mental stress (MS) in the supine and upright postures. MS was elicited by mental arithmetic. Doppler ultrasound was used to measure mean peak blood velocity in the renal (RBFV) and superior mesenteric arteries (SBFV), and forearm blood flow (FBF) was measured using plethysmography (n=10, 25 ± 1 y). Mean arterial pressure (MAP) and heart rate (HR) were significantly greater and FBF, RBFV, and SBFV and their conductances were significantly less in the upright compared to supine posture. MS elicited similar increases in MAP (~12 mmHg) and HR (~17 beats/min) regardless of posture. The decreases in RBFV and SBFV during MS in supine (Δ − 6.9 ± 1.1 cm/sec and Δ − 6.3 ± 2.4 cm/sec, respectively) and upright postures (− Δ 4.4 ± 1.0 cm/sec and − Δ 4.4 ± 3.8 cm/sec, respectively) were not significantly different. Moreover, MS elicited comparable increases in FBF in both the supine and upright postures (Δ 79 ± 8% and Δ 69 ± 8%, respectively). These results demonstrate a divergent response between the visceral and forearm vasculature to MS. However, the augmented sympathetic activity of the upright posture does not alter vascular responses of the visceral organs or forearm to MS. NIH DC006459 , NIH P01 HL077670 , NSBRI (CA00404)