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Cardiovascular and autonomic responses to sexual activity in the rabbit
Author(s) -
McBryde Fiona D,
Guild SarahJane,
Malpas Simon C,
Barrett Carolyn J
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
clinical and experimental pharmacology and physiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.752
H-Index - 103
eISSN - 1440-1681
pISSN - 0305-1870
DOI - 10.1111/j.1440-1681.2012.05696.x
Subject(s) - medicine , exertion , bradycardia , autonomic nervous system , tachycardia , myocardial infarction , cardiology , sexual function , endocrinology , stroke (engine) , heart rate , sympathetic nervous system , blood pressure , physiology , mechanical engineering , engineering
Summary Sexual intercourse is associated with an increased risk of death from arrhythmia development, myocardial infarction or stroke. It is unclear whether this increased risk is due to physical exertion alone or whether it is an inherent aspect of sexual activity itself. Using a telemetric approach, we show that sexual activity is associated with transient (8–14 s) but profound increases in renal sympathetic nerve activity ( RSNA ; up to 22‐fold that of baseline) in both male and female rabbits. This increase was significantly greater than that observed during physical exertion (three‐ to sixfold increase in RSNA ). In addition, we observed rapid transitions in male rabbits from tachycardia (422 ± 21 b.p.m.; P < 0.01) to bradycardia (186 ± 28 b.p.m.; P < 0.05) during and immediately following coitus. This suggests simultaneous activation of both the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. The present study provides the first real‐time insight into the extreme variation in neural and cardiovascular function occurring during sexual activity in normal healthy rabbits. Little is known about how the physiological responses to sexual activity may change under disease or drug‐treatment states, and these findings may prove of use to these areas in future.