Interactive effect of acute sympathetic activation and exercise intensity on the dynamic response characteristics of vascular conductance in the human calf muscle

Purpose: The effect of acute activation of the sympathetic nervous system on the dynamic response of muscle hyperaemia during exercise at different intensities is not clear. Methods: To explore this, six men performed 16, 5-min bouts of intermittent calf contractions at two intensities (25 and 50 % MVC) and two levels of sympathetic activation (CPT cold pressor test, CON control). Mean arterial pressure (MAP) and leg vascular conductance (LVC leg blood flow/MAP) were measured during rest and contractions (3 s intervals), and dynamic response characteristics of LVC were estimated using curve-fitting and empirical modeling. Results: MAP was ~20 % greater (P ≤ 0.05) during CPT than CON before and during initial contractions at both intensities. At 25 % MVC, CPT reduced the exercise-induced change in LVC (0.109 vs 0.125 ml 100 ml−1 min−1 mmHg−1; P < 0.05), an effect attributed to the reduction in the amplitude of the fast growth phase (0.091 vs 0.128 1 ml 100 ml−1 min−1 mmHg−1; P < 0.05). At 50 % MVC, CPT also blunted the fast growth phase (0.147 vs 0.189 ml 100 ml−1 min−1 mmHg−1; P < 0.05), but the total change in LVC during exercise was unaffected because of a significant reduction in the amplitude of the rapid decay phase and tendency (P = 0.1) for a lower amplitude of the slow decay phase. Conclusion: Increased sympathetic constraint of vasodilation persists during initial contractions but is overcome at the high intensity by a mechanism apparently related to hyperaemic decay.