CALL FOR PAPERS Impact of Sympathoexcitation on Cardiovascular Function in Humans Sympathetic reactivity in young women with a family history of hypertension

Greaney JL, Matthews EL, Wenner MM. Sympathetic reactivity in young women with a family history of hypertension. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 308: H816–H822, 2015. First published February 13, 2015; doi:10.1152/ajpheart.00867.2014.—Young adults with a family history of hypertension ( FH) have increased risk of developing hypertension. Furthermore, the blood pressure (BP) response to sympathoexcitatory stimuli in young adults can predict the future development of hypertension. Therefore, we hypothesized young women with a FH would have exaggerated cardiovascular and sympathetic reactivity compared with young women without a family history of hypertension ( FH). Beat-by-beat mean arterial pressure (MAP) and muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) were measured in 14 women FH (22 1 yr, 21 1 kg/m, MAP 80 2 mmHg) and 15 women FH (22 1 yr, 22 1 kg/m, MAP 78 2 mmHg) during acute sympathoexcitatory maneuvers: cold pressor test, 2 min of isometric handgrip (HG) exercise at 30% of maximal voluntary contraction, and 3 min of postexercise ischemia (PEI; isolated activation of the skeletal muscle metaboreflex). During cold pressor test, the increase in BP was greater in women FH ( MAP: FH 16 2 vs. FH 11 1 mmHg, P 0.05), which was accompanied by an exaggerated increase in MSNA ( MSNA: FH 17 2 vs. FH 8 2 burst/min, P 0.05). The increase in BP was greater in FH during the last minute of HG ( MAP: FH 23 3 vs. FH 12 1 mmHg, P 0.05) and during PEI ( MAP: FH 17 3 vs. FH 9 2 mmHg, P 0.05). Similarly, the increase in MSNA was greater in FH during both HG ( MSNA: FH 12 2 vs. FH 6 2 burst/min, P 0.05) and PEI ( MSNA: FH 16 2 vs. FH 4 2 burst/min, P 0.05). These data demonstrate that FH women have greater BP and sympathetic reactivity compared with FH women.