Reactive hyperemia acutely decreases peripheral arterial stiffness

Previous studies have shown that peripheral arterial stiffness can be reduced acutely by exercise, mechanical compression, and heat. Since reactive hyperemia elicits large increases in conduit artery blood flow similar to the other maneuvers, it may have similar effects on peripheral arterial stiffness. However, the effect of reactive hyperemia on peripheral arterial stiffness has not been investigated. We tested the hypothesis that reactive hyperemia would acutely decrease peripheral arterial stiffness as measured by pulse wave velocity (PWV). Seven healthy young adults (4 women; age: 30 ±4 years; mean±SD) were included in this study. Brachial to radial PWV was measured by placing pulse tonometer’s simultaneously over the brachial and radial arteries. Reactive hyperemia was performed using a rapid-release cuff positioned on the right upper arm, inflated to 220 mmHg and sustained for 5 min. Arterial blood pressure was continuously monitored via photoplethysmography beat by beat on the middle finger of the contralateral hand. Measurements were made before cuff inflation and at 5, 15, and 30 min after cuff release. At baseline before cuff inflation, brachial to radial PWV was 10.8 ±1.6 m/sec. PWV decreased (p<0.05) to 8.7 ± 1.8 m/sec at 5 min. PWV was not different from baseline (p>0.05) at 15 min (10.8 ± 2.7 m/sec) or at 30 min (10.1 ± 3.3 m/sec). Mean arterial pressure (MAP) was not significantly different (p>0.05) across time points. The results show that reactive hyperemia produces an acute reduction in brachial to radial PWV. However, the reduction was not long lasting. This was a local response not confounded by arterial pressure changes. The large increase in conduit artery blood flow or trapped metabolites may provide a potential mechanism. This is the full abstract presented at the American Physiology Summit 2023 meeting and is only available in HTML format. There are no additional versions or additional content available for this abstract. Physiology was not involved in the peer review process.