Chen Xiangyuan, Hu Niyuan, Han Huifeng, Cai Guoliang, Qin Ying
College of Sports and Human Sciences, Harbin Sport University, Harbin, China.
Front Neurol. 2024 Nov 5;15:1466549. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2024.1466549. eCollection 2024.
Many patients with COVID-19 experience increased arterial stiffness and abnormal cerebral hemodynamics. Although previous studies have explored the effects of cold environments on cardiovascular health and cerebral hemodynamics, there is still no research on the changes in cardiovascular and cerebral hemodynamics in sedentary female students recovering from COVID-19 while performing high-intensity interval training (HIIT) in cold environments. This study investigates the effects of 1 week of HIIT in a cold environment on cerebral hemodynamics and arterial stiffness (AS) in sedentary female college students, providing new insights into the pathophysiological mechanisms in this specific context. Thirty-six participants were randomly divided into a control group ( = 12), a room temperature (RE) group ( = 12), and a cold environment (CE) group ( = 12). HIIT was performed for four 4-min running training sessions, with a 4-min interval between each training session, The training duration was 1 week, with a frequency of 2 sessions per day, while the control group did not undergo any training. After training, the AS in the CE group significantly decreased ( < 0.05), with an average reduction of 11% in brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity, showing a significantly greater improvement compared to the RE group and the control group ( < 0.05), while no significant changes were observed in the RE group ( > 0.05). In the Y-Balance Tests (YBTs), the concentrations of cerebral oxygenated hemoglobin and total hemoglobin significantly increased ( < 0.05) during unilateral leg support tests in both the CE and RE groups, and the increase of CE group is greater than that of RE group. In contrast, in the control group, the concentrations of cerebral oxygenated hemoglobin and total hemoglobin significantly decreased during left leg support ( < 0.05). Our study found that performing HIIT in a cold environment not only effectively reduces AS in sedentary female college students after COVID-19, improves cardiovascular function, but also significantly enhances cerebral hemodynamics, helping them alleviate the negative impacts of post-COVID-19 sequelae and sedentary behavior on health. Future research should further explore the mechanisms by which sedentary behavior, post-COVID-19 recovery status, and adaptation to cold environments collectively influence cardiovascular function and cerebral hemodynamics, providing a more comprehensive understanding of these factors.
许多新冠肺炎患者会出现动脉僵硬度增加和脑血流动力学异常。尽管先前的研究已经探讨了寒冷环境对心血管健康和脑血流动力学的影响，但对于久坐不动的女大学生在从新冠肺炎康复过程中于寒冷环境中进行高强度间歇训练（HIIT）时心血管和脑血流动力学的变化仍未开展研究。本研究调查了在寒冷环境中进行1周HIIT对久坐不动的女大学生脑血流动力学和动脉僵硬度（AS）的影响，为这一特定背景下的病理生理机制提供了新的见解。36名参与者被随机分为对照组（n = 12）、室温（RE）组（n = 12）和寒冷环境（CE）组（n = 12）。HIIT进行了4次4分钟的跑步训练，每次训练之间间隔4分钟，训练持续1周，每天进行2次，而对照组未接受任何训练。训练后，CE组的AS显著降低（P < 0.05），肱踝脉搏波速度平均降低11%，与RE组和对照组相比改善显著（P < 0.05），而RE组未观察到显著变化（P > 0.05）。在Y平衡测试（YBTs）中，CE组和RE组在单腿支撑测试期间脑氧合血红蛋白和总血红蛋白浓度均显著增加（P < 0.05），且CE组的增加幅度大于RE组。相比之下，在对照组中，左腿支撑期间脑氧合血红蛋白和总血红蛋白浓度显著降低（P < 0.05）。我们的研究发现，在寒冷环境中进行HIIT不仅能有效降低新冠肺炎康复后久坐不动的女大学生的AS，改善心血管功能，还能显著增强脑血流动力学，帮助她们减轻新冠肺炎后遗症和久坐行为对健康的负面影响。未来的研究应进一步探索久坐行为、新冠肺炎康复状态以及对寒冷环境的适应如何共同影响心血管功能和脑血流动力学，以更全面地理解这些因素。
