Sarcopenia, defined by reduced appendicular skeletal muscle mass (ASM)/height2 (ASMI), is associated with increased arterial stiffness (brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity, baPWV) and wave reflection (augmentation index, AIx). Blood pressure (BP) responses to metaboreflex activation (post-exercise muscle ischemia, PEMI) are exaggerated in older prehypertensives and hypertensives. We examined peripheral and aortic haemodynamics at rest and during PEMI in postmenopausal women with low-ASMI and normal-ASMI. Resting radial AIx and baPWV as well as brachial and aortic systolic BP, pulse pressure, systolic time index, and subendocardial viability ratio (SEVR) responses to PEMI were greater in women with low-ASMI than normal-ASMI. Increased baPWV associated with low-ASMI may play a major role in the exaggerated pulse pressure and SEVR responses to PEMI in postmenopausal women.
Keywords: aging; aortic haemodynamic responses; appendicular skeletal muscle mass; arterial stiffness; isometric exercise; obesity.
© 2016 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.