Aerobic Training Attenuates Differences Between Black and White Adults in Left Ventricular-Vascular Coupling and Wasted Pressure Effort.

Background: Black compared with White adults have a higher risk for left-ventricular hypertrophy and heart failure possibly due to the early onset of alterations in ventricular-vascular coupling (ie, arterial [] to ventricular elastance [] ratio) and wasted pressure effort (). Aerobic training preserves the coupling ratio (/) and attenuates , but whether this applies to Black adults is unknown. We hypothesized that Black rather than White adults would have greater training-induced improvements in the / and .

Methods And Results: Fifty-four young adults with normal blood pressure (Black=24 [58% female]; White=30 [47% female], mean=24 years; SD=5 years) completed an 8-week aerobic training (3 times/week, 65%-85% peak oxygen uptake). / was estimated via echocardiography and scaled to body surface area, and the was estimated from pulse contour analysis. Black adults had lower / (difference ()=0.49 [95% CI, 0.14-0.84 mm Hg/mL], =0.007) and higher (=1127 [95% CI, 104-2007 dyne cm s], =0.005). Both groups exhibited similar (race-by-training interaction, =0.986) training-induced reductions in scaled (=-0.11 [95% CI, -0.18 to -0.04 mm Hg/mL], <0.001). Only in White adults, scaled increased (=0.39 [95% CI, 0.11-0.32 mm Hg/mL], =0.003) and / was reduced (=-0.16 [95% CI, -0.33 to -0.18 mm Hg/mL/m], <0.001). Conversely, only Black adults exhibited reductions in after training (=-699 [95% CI, -1209 to -189 dyne cm s], =0.008).

Conclusions: Aerobic training-induced differential effects on / and of White and Black young adults hold the potential to reduce racial disparities. This warrants confirmation in a larger sample.

Registration: URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov; Unique identifier: NCT01024634.