Sympathetic neural modulation of arterial stiffness in humans

Elevated large-artery stiffness is recognized as an independent predictor of cardiovascular and all-cause mortality. The mechanisms responsible for such stiffening are incompletely understood. Several recent cross-sectional and acute experimental studies have examined whether sympathetic outflow, qu...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:American journal of physiology. Heart and circulatory physiology 2020-12, Vol.319 (6), p.H1338-H1346
Main Authors: Nardone, Massimo, Floras, John S, Millar, Philip J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age Factors
Arteries - innervation
Augmentation
Blood pressure
Cardiovascular diseases
Cardiovascular Diseases - physiopathology
Carotid-Femoral Pulse Wave Velocity
Catecholamines
Female
Femur
Hemodynamics
Humans
Male
Maneuvers
Muscle, Skeletal - innervation
Muscles
Neural Inhibition
Neurotransmitter release
Neurotransmitters
Pressure dependence
Sex Factors
Stiffening
Stiffness
Sympathetic nerves
Sympathetic nervous system
Sympathetic Nervous System - physiology
Vascular Stiffness
Veins & arteries
Velocity
Wave reflection
Wave velocity
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Elevated large-artery stiffness is recognized as an independent predictor of cardiovascular and all-cause mortality. The mechanisms responsible for such stiffening are incompletely understood. Several recent cross-sectional and acute experimental studies have examined whether sympathetic outflow, quantified by microneurographic measures of muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA), can modulate large-artery stiffness in humans. A major methodological challenge of this research has been the capacity to evaluate the independent neural contribution without influencing the dynamic blood pressure dependence of arterial stiffness. The focus of this review is to summarize the evidence examining ) the relationship between resting MSNA and large-artery stiffness, as determined by carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity or pulse wave reflection characteristics (i.e., augmentation index) in men and women; ) the effects of acute sympathoexcitatory or sympathoinhibitory maneuvers on carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity and augmentation index; and ) the influence of sustained increases or decreases in sympathetic neurotransmitter release or circulating catecholamines on large-artery stiffness. The present results highlight the growing evidence that the sympathetic nervous system is capable of modulating arterial stiffness independent of prevailing hemodynamics and vasomotor tone.
ISSN:0363-6135
1522-1539
DOI:10.1152/ajpheart.00734.2020