Habitual Cigarette Smoking Raises Pressor Responses to Spontaneous Bursts of Muscle Sympathetic Nerve Activity.

Habitual Cigarette Smoking Raises Pressor Responses to Spontaneous Bursts of Muscle Sympathetic Nerve Activity. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 2019 May 15;: Authors: Cui J, Drew RC, Muller MD, Blaha C, Gonzalez V, Sinoway LI Abstract Smoking is a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. Prior reports showed a transient increase in blood pressure following a spontaneous burst of muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA). We hypothesized that this pressor response would be accentuated in smokers. Using signal averaging techniques, we examined the blood pressure (Finometer) response to MSNA in 18 otherwise healthy smokers and 42 healthy non-smokers during resting conditions. The sensitivities of baroreflex control of MSNA and heart rate were also assessed. The mean resting MSNA, heart rate and mean arterial pressure in smokers were higher than values seen in non-smokers. The mean arterial pressure increase following a burst of MSNA was significantly greater in smokers than that in non-smokers (Δ3.4 ± 0.3 vs. Δ1.6 ± 0.1 mmHg, P < 0.001). The baroreflex sensitivity of burst incidence, burst area or total activity were not different between two groups. However, cardiac baroreflex sensitivity was lower in smokers than in non-smokers (14.6 ± 1.7 vs. 24.6 ± 1.5 ms/mmHg, P < 0.001). Moreover, the mean arterial pressure increase following a burst was negatively correlated with the cardiac baroreflex sensitivity. These observ...
Source: American Journal of Physiology. Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology - Category: Physiology Authors: Tags: Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol Source Type: research