Neural control of cardiovascular function in Black adults: implications for racial differences in autonomic regulation.

Neural control of cardiovascular function in Black adults: implications for racial differences in autonomic regulation. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 2019 Dec 11;: Authors: Drew RC, Charkoudian N, Park J Abstract Black adults are at increased risk for developing hypertension, cardiovascular and chronic kidney disease, and have greater associated morbidity/mortality compared to White adults who are otherwise demographically similar. Despite the key role of the autonomic nervous system in the regulation of cardiovascular function, the mechanistic contributions of sympathetic nerves to racial differences in cardiovascular dysfunction and disease remain poorly understood. In this review, we present an update and synthesis of current understanding regarding the roles of autonomic neural mechanisms in normal and pathophysiological cardiovascular control in Black and White adults. At rest, many hemodynamic and autonomic variables are similar between healthy Black and White adults, including blood pressure, cardiac output, and sympathetic nerve activity. However, resting sympathetic vascular transduction and carotid baroreflex responses are altered in ways that tend to promote increased vasoconstriction and higher blood pressure, even in healthy, normotensive Black adults. Acute sympathoexcitatory maneuvers, including exercise and cold pressor test, often result in augmented sympathetic and hemodynamic responses in healthy Black ad...
Source: American Journal of Physiology. Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology - Category: Physiology Authors: Tags: Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol Source Type: research