Kinesiology Commons^™

Vasoconstrictor Reserve And Sympathetic Neural Control Of Orthostasis, Qi Fu, Sarah Witkowski, Benjamin D. Levine

Exercise and Sport Studies: Faculty Publications

Background—We tested the hypothesis that individual variability in orthostatic tolerance is dependent on the degree of neural and vasomotor reserve available for vasoconstriction.

Methods and Results—Muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) and hemodynamics were measured in 12 healthy young volunteers during 60° head-up tilt (HUT), followed by a cold pressor test (CPT) in HUT. Orthostatic tolerance was determined by progressive lower-body negative pressure (LBNP) to presyncope. The same protocols were performed randomly in normovolemic and hypovolemic conditions. We found that mean arterial pressure increased and stroke volume decreased, whereas heart rate (HR), MSNA, and total peripheral resistance (TPR) increased during HUT …

Inhibition Of Nitric Oxide Inhibition Of Nitric Oxide Synthase Does Not Alter Dynamic Cerebral Autoregulation In Humans, Rong Zhang, Thad E. Wilson, Sarah Witkowski, Jian Cui, Craig G. Crandall, Benjamin D. Levine

Exercise and Sport Studies: Faculty Publications

The aim of this study was to determine whether inhibition of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) alters dynamic cerebral autoregulation in humans. Beat-to-beat blood pressure (BP) and cerebral blood flow (CBF) velocity (transcranial Doppler) were measured in eight healthy subjects in the supine position and during 60° head-up tilt (HUT). NOS was inhibited by intravenous N G-monomethyl-L-arginine (L-NMMA) infusion. Dynamic cerebral autoregulation was quantified by transfer function analysis of beat-to-beat changes in BP and CBF velocity. Pressor effects of L-NMMA on cerebral hemodynamics were compared with those of phenylephrine infusion. In the supine position, L-NMMA increased mean BP from 83 ± …