Exercise controls arterial stiffness via hemodynamic modulation

The acute effects of leg anaerobic exercises on the stiffness and local hemodynamics in human common carotid artery are investigated in this paper. The results show that leg anaerobic exercises increase the arterial stiffness and significantly modulate local hemodynamic parameters in the common carotid artery including systolic blood pressure, mean blood pressure, pulse blood pressure, maximum shear stress, minimum shear stress and oscillatory shear index. Linear correlation analysis shows that systolic blood pressure, mean blood pressure, pulse blood pressure, minimum shear stress and oscillatory shear index might be the key hemodynamic factors in exercise-induced increase in arterial stiffness. The results are helpful for understanding the mechanism underlying the control of arterial function via exercise-induced hemodynamic modulation.