Pressor response and its relationship to blood pressure variability in normotensives

The blood pressure response (BPR) to stress is thought to be associated with risk of developing hypertension and/or cardiovascular disease. Additionally, increased blood pressure variability (BPV) may be associated with the risk of hypertension. However, it is unknown if there is a relationship between the response to stress and BPV in normotensive individuals. As part of a larger, on‐going study on BPV, healthy, young, normotensive subjects (N=53) had their BP measured during three different stressors: mental stress, the cold pressor test, and ischemic handgrip. An automatic ambulatory blood pressure monitor was then used to obtain 24‐hr BPV. We hypothesized that there would be a correlation between the BPR to stress and BPV. However, we found no significant correlation between any of the three pressor tests and 24‐hr BPV (P> 0.05). There was a significant relationship between the change in systolic blood pressure (SBP) during handgrip and the 24‐hr average SBP (P < 0.05, r = 0.314). In conclusion, there does not appear to be a significant relationship between the BPR and BPV in young normotensive individuals. The value of BPV to predict future hypertension in normotensive individuals may be limited. However, the pressor response may be related to greater blood pressure, and future prospective studies are needed to determine if it is predicative of the development of hypertension or cardiovascular disease. Supported by RR17520, HL‐46493, and the Mayo Clinic Department of Anesthesiology