Maintained cerebrovascular function during post-exercise hypotension

The post-exercise period is associated with hypotension, and an increased risk of syncope attributed to decreases in venous return and/or vascular resistance. Increased local and systemic vasodilators, sympatholysis, and attenuated baroreflex sensitivity following exercise are also manifest. Although resting cerebral blood flow is maintained, cerebrovascular regulation to acute decreases in blood pressure has not been characterized following exercise. We therefore aimed to assess cerebrovascular regulation during transient bouts of hypotension, before and after 40 min of aerobic exercise at 60 % of estimated maximum oxygen consumption. Beat to beat blood pressure (Finometer), heart rate (ECG), and blood velocity in the middle cerebral artery (MCAv; transcranial Doppler ultrasound) were assessed in ten healthy young humans. The MCAv-mean arterial pressure relationship during a pharmacologically (i.v. sodium nitroprusside) induced transient hypotension was assessed before and at 10, 30, and 60 min following exercise. Despite a significant reduction in mean arterial pressure at 10 min post-exercise (-10 ± 6.9 mmHg; P<0.05) and end-tidal PCO2 (10 min post: -2.9 ± 2.6 mmHg; 30 min post: -3.9 ± 3.5 mmHg; 60 min post: -2.7 ± 2.0 mmHg; all P<0.05), neither resting MCAv nor the cerebrovascular response to hypotension differed between pre- and post-exercise periods (P>0.05). These data indicate that cerebrovascular regulation remains intact following a moderate bout of aerobic exercise.