Tipping the scale: Effects of physical activity and body composition on cardiac parameters in postmenopausal females.

The risk of cardiovascular disease increases significantly after menopause. We sought to assess the impact of different activity levels on cardiac structure and function in postmenopausal women. We grouped age-similar, postmenopausal women by self-reported physical activity levels over two decades.

Menopausal transition does not influence skeletal muscle capillary growth in response to cycle training in women.

The influence of the menopausal transition, with a consequent loss of estrogen, on capillary growth in response to exercise training remains unknown. In the present study, we evaluated the effect of a period of intense endurance training on skeletal muscle angiogenesis in late premenopausal and recent postmenopausal women with an age difference of <4 yr. Skeletal muscle biopsies were obtained from the thigh muscle before and after 12 wk of intense aerobic cycle training and analyzed for capillarization, fiber-type distribution, and content of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF).

A High Activity Level Is Required for Augmented Muscle Capillarization in Older Women.

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the influence of lifelong regular physical activity on skeletal muscle capillarization in women.

Methods: Postmenopausal women, 61±4 yr old, were divided according to self-reported physical activity level over the past 20 yrs: sedentary (SED; n = 14), moderately active (MOD; n = 12), and very active (VERY; n = 15). Leg blood flow (LBF) was determined by ultrasound Doppler, and blood samples were drawn from the femoral artery and vein for calculation of leg oxygen uptake (LVO2) at rest and during one-legged knee extensor exercise.

The Impact of Lower Limb Immobilization and Rehabilitation on Angiogenic Proteins and Capillarization in Skeletal Muscle.

Purpose: Skeletal muscle vascularization is important for tissue regeneration after injury and immobilization. We examined whether complete immobilization influences capillarization and oxygen delivery to the muscle and assessed the efficacy of rehabilitation by aerobic exercise training.

Methods: Young healthy males had one leg immobilized for 14 d and subsequently completed 4 wk of intense aerobic exercise training.

Ischemic Preconditioning Improves Microvascular Endothelial Function in Remote Vasculature by Enhanced Prostacyclin Production.

BACKGROUND The mechanisms underlying the effect of preconditioning on remote microvasculature remains undisclosed. The primary objective was to document the remote effect of ischemic preconditioning on microvascular function in humans. The secondary objective was to test if exercise also induces remote microvascular effects.

Microvascular Function Is Impaired after Short-Term Immobilization in Healthy Men.

Purpose: We examined whether 2 wk of one-leg immobilization would impair leg microvascular function and to what extent a subsequent period of intense aerobic cycle training could restore function.

Methods: Study participants were healthy young men (n = 12; 20-24 yr of age). Leg microvascular function was determined before the intervention, after the immobilization period, and after a 4-wk exercise training period.

Lifelong Physical Activity Determines Vascular Function in Late Postmenopausal Women.

Introduction: The study evaluated the role of lifelong physical activity for leg vascular function in postmenopausal women (61 ± 1 yr).

Method: The study design was cross-sectional with three different groups based on self-reported physical activity level with regard to intensity and volume over the past decade: inactive (n = 14), moderately active (n = 12), and very active (n = 15). Endothelial-dependent and smooth muscle-dependent leg vascular function were assessed by ultrasound Doppler measurements of the femoral artery during infusion of acetylcholine (Ach), the nitric oxide (NO) donor sodium nitroprusside and the prostacyclin analog epoprostenol.

The Endothelial Mechanotransduction Protein Platelet Endothelial Cell Adhesion Molecule-1 Is Influenced by Aging and Exercise Training in Human Skeletal Muscle.

The aim was to determine the role of aging and exercise training on endothelial mechanosensor proteins and the hyperemic response to shear stress by passive leg movement. We examined the expression of mechanosensor proteins and vascular function in young ( = 14, 25 ± 3 years) and old ( = 14, 72 ± 5 years) healthy male subjects with eight weeks of aerobic exercise training. Before and after training, the hyperaemic response to passive leg movement was determined and a thigh muscle biopsy was obtained before and after passive leg movement to assess the acute effect of increased shear stress.

Effects of aging and exercise training on leg hemodynamics and oxidative metabolism in the transition from rest to steady-state exercise: role of cGMP signaling.

Aging is associated with slower skeletal muscle O uptake (V̇o) kinetics; however, the mechanisms underlying this effect of age are unclear. Also, the effects of exercise training in elderly on the initial vascular and metabolic response to exercise remain to be elucidated. We measured leg hemodynamics and oxidative metabolism in the transition from rest to steady-state exercise engaging the knee-extensor muscles in young ( n = 15, 25 ± 1 yr) and older ( n = 15, 72 ± 1 yr) subjects before and after a period of aerobic high-intensity exercise training.

Endothelial mechanotransduction proteins and vascular function are altered by dietary sucrose supplementation in healthy young male subjects.

Key Points: Mechanotransduction in endothelial cells is a central mechanism in the regulation of vascular tone and vascular remodelling Mechanotransduction and vascular function may be affected by high sugar levels in plasma because of a resulting increase in oxidative stress and increased levels of advanced glycation end-products (AGE). In healthy young subjects, 2 weeks of daily supplementation with 3 × 75 g of sucrose was found to reduce blood flow in response to passive lower leg movement and in response to 12 W of knee extensor exercise. This vascular impairment was paralleled by up-regulation of platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule (PECAM)-1, endothelial nitric oxide synthase, NADPH oxidase and Rho family GTPase Rac1 protein expression, an increased basal phosphorylation status of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 and a reduced phosphorylation status of PECAM-1.