Ghimire Money, Sanchez Brittany K, Kim Jahyun
Department of Kinesiology, California State University, Bakersfield, California, United States.
Department of Kinesiology, School of Education and Human Development, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, United States.
Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol. 2025 Jul 1;329(1):H172-H177. doi: 10.1152/ajpheart.00299.2025. Epub 2025 May 30.
Elevated blood pressure (BP) is associated with increased arterial stiffness and risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). Remote ischemic preconditioning (RIPC) involves three or four cycles of limb blood flow blockage followed by reperfusion with occlusion pressure between 200 and 220 mmHg and has been shown to improve vascular function. However, studies in normotensive adults showed no change in arterial stiffness, possibly due to shorter intervention periods (<1 wk). Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of 4 wk of RIPC on arterial stiffness in adults with elevated BP or stage 1 hypertension (EBP), and whether superoxide dismutase (SOD) levels account for this effect. We hypothesized that 4 wk of RIPC attenuates arterial stiffness measured by carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV) in individuals with EBP due to SOD upregulation. Young adults with normal blood pressure (NBP) ( = 11, 3 M/8 F, age = 21.0 ± 1.3 yr, BP = 102 ± 7/68 ± 4 mmHg) and EBP ( = 11, 8 M/3 F, age = 21.6 ± 1.6 yr, BP = 124 ± 6/78 ± 6 mmHg) underwent 4 wk of RIPC intervention, and the results showed that RIPC reduced PWV in the elevated BP group (5.66 ± 0.99 vs. 5.34 ± 0.77 m/s, = 0.037). Furthermore, serum SOD activity was increased in EBP group after RIPC (13.18 ± 3.60 vs. 14.59 ± 4.02 units/mL, = 0.016) with no significant changes in the normotensive group ( = 0.603). Thus, RIPC may serve as a potential alternative intervention to attenuate arterial stiffness likely via antioxidant upregulation in individuals with EBP. Repeated RIPC attenuates arterial stiffness in the elevated or stage 1 hypertensive young adults but not in normotensive young adults. Increased SOD activity with repeated RIPC may explain the attenuated arterial stiffness in this population. These results underscore the potential of RIPC intervention to lower CVD risk through reductions in arterial stiffness and blood pressure in healthy young adults with elevated or stage 1 hypertensive blood pressure.
血压升高与动脉僵硬度增加及心血管疾病（CVDs）风险相关。远程缺血预处理（RIPC）包括三或四个肢体血流阻断周期，随后以200至220 mmHg的闭塞压力进行再灌注，并且已被证明可改善血管功能。然而，在血压正常的成年人中进行的研究显示动脉僵硬度没有变化，这可能是由于干预期较短（<1周）。因此，本研究的目的是调查4周的RIPC对血压升高或1级高血压（EBP）成年人动脉僵硬度的影响，以及超氧化物歧化酶（SOD）水平是否可解释这种影响。我们假设，4周的RIPC可通过上调SOD来减弱通过颈股脉搏波速度（PWV）测量的EBP个体的动脉僵硬度。血压正常（NBP）的年轻成年人（n = 11，3名男性/8名女性，年龄 = 21.0 ± 1.3岁，血压 = 102 ± 7/68 ± 4 mmHg）和EBP的年轻成年人（n = 11，8名男性/3名女性，年龄 = 21.6 ± 1.6岁，血压 = 124 ± 6/78 ± 6 mmHg）接受了4周的RIPC干预，结果显示RIPC降低了血压升高组的PWV（5.66 ± 0.99 vs. 5.34 ± 0.77 m/s，P = 0.037）。此外，RIPC后EBP组的血清SOD活性增加（13.18 ± 3.60 vs. 14.59 ± 4.02单位/mL，P = 0.016），而血压正常组无显著变化（P = 0.603）。因此，RIPC可能是一种潜在的替代干预措施，可能通过上调抗氧化剂来减弱EBP个体的动脉僵硬度。重复进行RIPC可减弱血压升高或1级高血压年轻成年人的动脉僵硬度，但对血压正常的年轻成年人无效。重复进行RIPC导致SOD活性增加可能解释了该人群动脉僵硬度减弱的原因。这些结果强调了RIPC干预在健康的血压升高或1级高血压年轻成年人中通过降低动脉僵硬度和血压来降低CVD风险的潜力。
