Abstract
This study investigated aberrations in baroreflex function and cardiovascular reactivity related to the condition of chronic low blood pressure. In 40 hypotensive and 40 normotensive control subjects, blood pressures were continuously recorded at rest and during mental stress. Baroreflex sensitivity was determined in the time domain using sequence analysis. Beat-to-beat hemodynamic indices were estimated from the blood pressure waveforms by means of Modelflow analysis. In the hypotensive sample, a higher baroreflex sensitivity was observed under both conditions. Furthermore, this group experienced a less pronounced increase of blood pressure and stroke volume under stress. The findings underline the involvement of the baroreflex in the long-term setting of tonic blood pressure and suggest its relevance in the etiology of chronic hypotension. In addition, this study documents reduced cardiovascular reactivity and thus deficient hemodynamic adjustment to situational requirements in chronic low blood pressure.
Similar content being viewed by others
Article PDF
References
Duschek S, Schandry R : Reduced brain perfusion and cognitive performance due to essential hypotension. Clin Auton Res 2007; 17: 69–76.
Rosengren A, Tibblin G, Wilhelmsen L : Low systolic blood pressure and self perceived wellbeing in middle aged men. BMJ 1993; 306: 243–246.
Wessely S, Nickson J, Cox B : Symptoms of low blood pressure: a population study. BMJ 1990; 301: 362–365.
WHO: Arterial Hypertension: Technical Report Series No. 628. Genova, World Health Organization, 1978.
Novak V, Novak P, Spies JM, Low PA : Autoregulation of cerebral blood flow in orthostatic hypotension. Stroke 1998; 29: 104–111.
Weisz N, Schandry R, Jacobs A, Mialet J, Duschek S : Early contingent negative variation of the EEG and attentional flexibility are reduced in hypotension. Int J Psychophysiol 2002; 45 ( Suppl 3): 253–260.
Dembowsky K, Seller H : Arterial baroreceptor reflexes, in Vaitl D, Schandry R (eds): From the Heart to the Brain: The Psychophysiology of Circulation-Brain Interaction. Frankfurt a.M., Europäischer Verlag der Wissenschaften, 1995, pp 35–60.
Levy MN, Pappano AJ : Cardiovascular Physiology. Philadelphia, Mosby Elsevier, 2007.
Steptoe A, Vögele C : Cardiac baroreceptor reflex function during postural change assessed using non-invasive spontaneous sequence analysis in young men. Cardiovasc Res 1990; 24: 627–632.
Parati G, di Rienzo M, Mancia G : How to measure baroreflex sensitivity: from the cardiovascular laboratory to daily life. J Hypertens 2000; 18: 7–19.
La Rovere MT, Specchia G, Mortara A, Schwartz PJ : Baroreflex sensitivity, clinical correlates, and cardiovascular mortality among patients with a first myocardial infarction. A prospective study. Circulation 1988; 78: 816–824.
Osculati G, Grassi G, Giannattasio C, et al: Early alterations of the baroreflex control of heart rate in patients with acute myocardial infarction. Circulation 1990; 81: 939–948.
Katsube Y, Sato H, Naka M, Kim BH, Kinoshita N, Hori M : Decreased baroreflex sesnsitivity in patients with stable coronary heart disease is correlated with the severity of coronary narrowing. Am J Cardiol 1996; 78: 1007–1010.
Bertinieri G, di Rienzo M, Parati B, et al: Baroreceptorheart rate reflex studied in normotensives and essential hypertensives by beat-to-beat analysis of 24-hour blood pressure and heart rate. J Hypertens 1987; 5: 5333–5335.
Biaggioni I : Sympathetic control of the circulation in hypertension: lessons from autonomic disorders. Curr Opin Nephrol Hypertens 2003; 12: 175–180.
Lohmeier TE, Irwin ED, Rossing MA, Serdar DJ, Kieval RS : Prolonged activation of the baroreflex produces sustained hypotension. Hypertension 2004; 43: 306–311.
Hesse C, Charkoudian N, Liu Z, Joyner MJ, Eisenach JH : Baroreflex sensitivity inversely correlates with ambulatory blood pressure in healthy normotensive humans. Hypertension 2007; 50: 41–46.
Duschek S, Matthias E, Schandry R : Essential hypotension is accompanied by deficits in attention and working memory. Behav Med 2005; 30: 149–158.
Duschek S, Schandry R : Deficient adjustment of cerebral blood flow to cognitive activity due to chronically low blood pressure. Biol Psychol 2006; 72: 311–317.
Oldfield RC : The assessment and analysis of handedness: the Edinburgh inventory. Neuropsychologia 1971; 9: 97–113.
Wesseling KH, De Wit B, Van der Hoeven GMA, Van Goudoever J, Settels JJ : Physiocal, calibrating finger vascular physiology for Finapres. Homeostasis 1995; 36: 67–82.
Reyes del Paso GA : A program to assess baroreceptor cardiac reflex function. Behav Res Meth Instrum 1994; 26: 62–64.
Parlow J, Viale JP, Annat G, Hughson R, Quintin L : Spontaneous cardiac baroreflex in humans: comparison with drugs-induced responses. Hypertension 1995; 25: 1058–1068.
Wesseling KH, Jansen JR, Settels JJ, Schreuder JJ : Computation of aortic flow from pressure in humans using a nonlinear, three-element model. J Appl Physiol 1993; 74: 2566–2573.
Bogert LWJ, Lieshout JJ : Non-invasive arterial pressure and stroke volume changes from the human finger. Exp Physiol 2005; 90: 437–446.
Rau H, Elbert T : Psychophysiology of arterial baroreceptors and the etiology of hypertension. Biol Psychol 2001; 57: 179–201.
McCubbin JW, Green JH, Page IH : Baroreceptor function in renal hypertension. Circ Res 1956; 4: 205–210.
Lohmeier TE : The sympathetic nervous system and longterm blood pressure regulation. Am J Hypertens 2001; 14: 147S–154S.
Cowley AW, Quillen EW, Barber BJ : Further evidence for lack of baroreceptor control of long-term level of arterial pressure, in Sleight P (ed): Arterial Baroreceptors in Hypertension. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1980, pp 391–399.
Persson PB : Interaction of arterial and cardiopulmonary reflexes, in Persson PB, Kirchheim HR (eds): Baroreceptor Reflexes. Berlin, Springer, 1991, pp 126–153.
Duschek S, Reyes del Paso G : Quantification of cardiac baroreflex function at rest and during autonomic stimulation. J Physiol Sci 2007; 57: 259–268.
Ducher M, Fauvel JP, Cerrutti C : Risk profile in hypertension genesis: a five-year follow-up study. Am J Hypertens 2006; 19: 775–781.
Smit AA, Timmers HJ, Wieling W, et al: Long-term effects of carotid sinus denervation on arterial blood pressure in humans. Circulation 2002; 105: 1329–1335.
Sharabi Y, Dendi R, Holmes C, Goldstein DS : Baroreflex failure as a late sequela of neck irradiation. Hypertension 2003; 42: 110–116.
Reyes del Paso GA, González MI : Modification of baroreceptor cardiac reflex function by biofeedback. Appl Psychophysiol Biofeedback 2004; 29: 197–211.
Reyes del Paso GA, Langewitz W, Robles H, Perez N : A between-subjects comparison of respiratory sinus arrythmia and baroreceptor cardiac reflex sensitivity as non-invasive measures of tonic parasympathetic cardiac control. Int J Psychophysiol 1996; 22: 163–171.
Sleight P, La Rovere MT, Mortara A, et al: Physiology and pathophysiology of heart rate and blood pressure variability in humans: is power spectral analysis largely an index of baroreceptor gain? Clin Sci 1995; 88: 103–109.
Pinel JPJ : Biopsychology. Boston, Pearson Education, 2007.
Hugdahl K : Psychophysiology. Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 2001.
Cadalbert B : Die Psychophysiologie des niedrigen Blutdrucks: Kreislaufregulation, Lebensgewohnheiten und Beschwerden [The Psychophysiology of Low Blood Pressure: Cardiovascular Regulation, Life Style, and Complaints]. Frankfurt a.M., Peter Lang, 1997.
Duschek S, Hadjamu M, Schandry R : Enhancement of cerebral blood flow and cognitive performance due to pharmacological blood pressure elevation in chronic hypotension. Psychophysiology 2007; 44: 145–153.
Duschek S, Schandry R : Cognitive performance and cerebral blood flow in essential hypotension. Psychophysiology 2004; 41: 905–913.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Duschek, S., Dietel, A., Schandry, R. et al. Increased Baroreflex Sensitivity and Reduced Cardiovascular Reactivity in Individuals with Chronic Low Blood Pressure. Hypertens Res 31, 1873–1878 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1291/hypres.31.1873
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1291/hypres.31.1873
Keywords
This article is cited by
-
Exposure to Intermittent Noise Exacerbates the Cardiovascular Response of Wistar–Kyoto Rats to Ozone Inhalation and Arrhythmogenic Challenge
Cardiovascular Toxicology (2021)
-
Role of infarct location and pre-existing depression on cardiac baroreceptor sensitivity in subacute ischemic stroke
Acta Neurologica Belgica (2017)
-
Autonomic Cardiovascular Control and Executive Function in Chronic Hypotension
Annals of Behavioral Medicine (2017)
-
Impaired cerebral and systemic hemodynamics under cognitive load in young hypotensives: a transcranial Doppler study
Journal of Behavioral Medicine (2013)
-
Systemic and cerebral hemodynamics during cognitive testing
Clinical Autonomic Research (2012)