Cyclo-oxygenase-2 inhibition and endothelium-dependent vasodilation in younger vs. older healthy adults.

Aim: A major feature of endothelial dysfunction is reduced endothelium-dependent vasodilation, which in ageing may be due to decreased production of endothelial prostacyclin, or nitric oxide (NO), or both.

Method: We tested this hypothesis in 12 younger (age 18-38 years, six women) and 12 older healthy adults (age 55-73 years, six post-menopausal women). Endothelium-dependent vasodilation was assessed by the forearm vascular conductance (FVC) response to intra-arterial acetylcholine (ACh) (0.

Dietary sodium influences the effect of mental stress on heart rate variability: a randomized trial in healthy adults.

Background: Dietary sodium influences intermediate physiological traits in healthy adults independent of changes in blood pressure. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that dietary sodium affects cardiac autonomic modulation during mental stress.

Method: In a prospective, randomized cross-over design separated by 1 month between diets, 70 normotensive healthy young adults (F/M: 44/26, aged 18-38 years) consumed a 5-day low (10 mmol/day), normal (150 mmol), and high (400 mmol) sodium diet followed by heart rate variability (HRV) recordings at rest and during 5-min computerized mental arithmetic.