Respiratory influences on muscle sympathetic nerve activity and vascular conductance in the steady state.

Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol

Bruno Balke Biodynamics Laboratory, Department of Kinesiology, School of Education, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA.

Published: June 2013

AI Article Synopsis

  • Breathing at different rates (7, 14, and 21 breaths/min) combined with changes in tidal volume was tested on 21 individuals, including those with high blood pressure, to assess its impact on blood flow and sympathetic nerve activity.
  • Despite observing expected changes in sympathetic activity during breathing, there were no significant effects on long-term blood pressure or arterial function.
  • The results suggest that the common belief that slow and deep breathing can lower blood pressure by reducing sympathetic activity may not be supported by this study.

Article Abstract

In patients with hypertension, volitional slowing of the respiratory rate has been purported to reduce arterial pressure via withdrawal of sympathetic tone. We examined the effects of paced breathing at 7, 14, and 21 breaths/min, with reciprocal changes in tidal volume, on muscle sympathetic nerve activity, forearm blood flow, forearm vascular conductance, and blood pressure in 21 men and women, 8 of whom had modest elevations in systemic arterial pressure. These alterations in breathing frequency and volume did not affect steady-state levels of sympathetic activity, blood flow, vascular conductance, or blood pressure (all P > 0.05), even though they had the expected effect on sympathetic activity within breaths (i.e., increased modulation during low-frequency/high-tidal volume breathing) (P < 0.001). These findings were consistent across subjects with widely varied baseline levels of sympathetic activity (4-fold), mean arterial pressure (78-110 mmHg), and vascular conductance (15-fold), and those who became hypocapnic during paced breathing vs. those who maintained normocapnia. These findings challenge the notion that slow, deep breathing lowers arterial pressure by suppressing steady-state sympathetic outflow.

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http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3680774PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1152/ajpheart.00112.2013DOI Listing

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