The maintenance of arterial blood pressure regulation is a basic necessity in humans during rest and exercise conditions. Arterial hypertension is a prevalent cardiovascular disease, implying mismatches in blood pressure regulation resulting in functional and structural alterations in the microcirculation. Commonly, different types of antihypertensive drugs are administered (e.g. angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, β-blockers) to normalize arterial blood pressure. Usually, these treatments are monitored in resting, fewer during exercise conditions. During dynamic exercise the increase in blood pressure becomes important: rapid and high increases in blood pressure can occur immediately (MacDougall et al. 1985), especially if the physiological responses of the cardiovascular system are impaired.
Therefore, the aim of the study is the impact analysis on mean arterial blood pressure responses of hypertensive patients treated with antihypertensive drugs during dynamic exercise. In particular, it is hypothesized that different antihypertensive drugs classes provoke distinct blood pressure responses in transient work rate (WR) phases due to their varying physiological functions and mechanisms. It is further strived to derive recommendations for the application of specific drugs (ACE inhibitor or β-blocker) or the combination of these treatments for patients performing endurance exercise training in general – and especially when possible – for interval training interventions to avoid prolonged critical time periods of high blood pressure. This will provide an improvement in quality of life and enhances basically the understanding of blood pressure regulation in humans during dynamic exercise.
The study is funded by Marga und Walter Boll-Stiftung (Project No. 210-06.1-17).