Background: Pulse wave velocity (PWV), a risk factor for coronary heart disease, is known to be affected by blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR). However, the acute effect of exercise test on PWV measurement is not well known. Methods: Total 14 healthy nonsmoking volunteers (8 men and 6 women) underwent carotid-femoral PWV measurement three times in succession both before and after exercise test. Exercise test was stopped at 85% of age predicted maximum HR. Post-exercise PWV was measured if HR decreased below 80 beats per minute (bpm). Results: Their mean (± standard deviation) age, weight, height, BMI, systolic BP, diastolic BP, and HR was 30.8 (± 4.8) years, 63.1 (± 13.2) kg, 169.4 (± 6.9) cm, 21.8 (± 3.1), 122.7 (± 15.0) mmHg, 71.2 (±14.0) mmHg, and 61.7 (± 8.7) bpm, respectively. After exercise, systolic BP decreased by 6.4 (± 11.6) mmHg (P=0.06); diastolic BP increased by 0.3 (±10.9) mmHg (P=0.92); HR increased by 5.0 (±5.3) bpm (P=0.004). Despite these changes, their PWV little changed from 7.59 (±0.45) m/s to 7.36 (±0.44) m/s in mean (3.0%, P=0.18) and from 7.61 (±0.45) m/s to 7.37 (±0.42) m/s in median (3.2%, P=0.16). However, in three volunteers (21%), their PWV decreased by more than 10% (17.9%, 16.0%, and 11.5% in mean or 18.7%, 13.7%, 10.5% in median). Conclusion: PWV did not significantly changed after exercise test in overall but decreased by large degree in some cases. The clinical meaning of this acute exercise-induced drop in aortic stiffness should be further elucidated.
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