The Impact of Age, Sex, Cardio-respiratory Fitness, and Cardiovascular Disease Risk on Dynamic Cerebral Autoregulation and Baroreflex Sensitivity

Overview

Journal Eur J Appl Physiol

Specialty Physiology

Date 2022 Apr 16

PMID 35429292

Authors

Joseph D Maxwell

Daniel J Bannell

Aine Brislane

Sophie E Carter

Gemma D Miller

Kirsty A Roberts

Nicola D Hopkins

David A Low

Howard H Carter

Andrew Thompson

Jurgen A H R Claassen

Dick H J Thijssen

Helen Jones

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: Humans display an age-related decline in cerebral blood flow and increase in blood pressure (BP), but changes in the underlying control mechanisms across the lifespan are less well understood. We aimed to; (1) examine the impact of age, sex, cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk, and cardio-respiratory fitness on dynamic cerebral autoregulation and cardiac baroreflex sensitivity, and (2) explore the relationships between dynamic cerebral autoregulation (dCA) and cardiac baroreflex sensitivity (cBRS).

Methods: 206 participants aged 18-70 years were stratified into age categories. Cerebral blood flow velocity was measured using transcranial Doppler ultrasound. Repeated squat-stand manoeuvres were performed (0.10 Hz), and transfer function analysis was used to assess dCA and cBRS. Multivariable linear regression was used to examine the influence of age, sex, CVD risk, and cardio-respiratory fitness on dCA and cBRS. Linear models determined the relationship between dCA and cBRS.

Results: Age, sex, CVD risk, and cardio-respiratory fitness did not impact dCA normalised gain, phase, or coherence with minimal change in all models (P > 0.05). cBRS gain was attenuated with age when adjusted for sex and CVD risk (young-older; β = - 2.86 P < 0.001) along with cBRS phase (young-older; β = - 0.44, P < 0.001). There was no correlation between dCA normalised gain and phase with either parameter of cBRS.

Conclusion: Ageing was associated with a decreased cBRS, but dCA appears to remain unchanged. Additionally, our data suggest that sex, CVD risk, and cardio-respiratory fitness have little effect.

Citing Articles

A systematic review, meta-analysis meta-regression amalgamating the driven approaches used quantify dynamic cerebral autoregulation.

Burma J, Roy M, Kennedy C, Labrecque L, Brassard P, Smirl J J Cereb Blood Flow Metab. 2024; 44(8):1271-1297.

PMID: 38635887 PMC: 11342731. DOI: 10.1177/0271678X241235878.

Curvilinear association between waist-to-height ratio and cardiorespiratory fitness: a cross-sectional study based on nationwide data from Chinese children and adolescents.

Dong J, Song P, Zhang Z, Zhang J BMC Sports Sci Med Rehabil. 2024; 16(1):73.

PMID: 38549101 PMC: 10976784. DOI: 10.1186/s13102-024-00868-8.

Cerebrovascular CO reactivity and dynamic cerebral autoregulation through the eighth decade of life and their implications for cognitive decline.

Weijs R, Oudegeest-Sander M, Hopman M, Thijssen D, Claassen J J Cereb Blood Flow Metab. 2023; 44(5):712-725.

PMID: 38064286 PMC: 11197147. DOI: 10.1177/0271678X231219568.

A decade of aging in healthy older adults: longitudinal findings on cerebrovascular and cognitive health.

Weijs R, Oudegeest-Sander M, Vloet J, Hopman M, Claassen J, Thijssen D Geroscience. 2023; 45(4):2629-2641.

PMID: 37052769 PMC: 10651595. DOI: 10.1007/s11357-023-00790-w.

Influence of high-intensity interval training to exhaustion on the directional sensitivity of the cerebral pressure-flow relationship in young endurance-trained men.

Abbariki F, Roy M, Labrecque L, Drapeau A, Imhoff S, Smirl J Physiol Rep. 2022; 10(13):e15384.

PMID: 35822439 PMC: 9277516. DOI: 10.14814/phy2.15384.

References

Dineen N, Panerai R, Brodie F, Robinson T . Effects of ageing on cerebral haemodynamics assessed during respiratory manoeuvres. Age Ageing. 2011; 40(2):199-204. DOI: 10.1093/ageing/afq170. View

Madden K, Lockhart C, Potter T, Cuff D . Aerobic training restores arterial baroreflex sensitivity in older adults with type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and hypercholesterolemia. Clin J Sport Med. 2010; 20(4):312-7. PMC: 3742433. DOI: 10.1097/JSM.0b013e3181ea8454. View

Okada Y, Galbreath M, Shibata S, Jarvis S, VanGundy T, Meier R . Relationship between sympathetic baroreflex sensitivity and arterial stiffness in elderly men and women. Hypertension. 2011; 59(1):98-104. PMC: 3241909. DOI: 10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.111.176560. View

Yam A, Lang E, Lagopoulos J, Yip K, Griffith J, Mudaliar Y . Cerebral autoregulation and ageing. J Clin Neurosci. 2005; 12(6):643-6. DOI: 10.1016/j.jocn.2004.08.017. View

Smirl J, Haykowsky M, Nelson M, Tzeng Y, Marsden K, Jones H . Relationship between cerebral blood flow and blood pressure in long-term heart transplant recipients. Hypertension. 2014; 64(6):1314-20. DOI: 10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.114.04236. View

Claassen J, Zhang R . Cerebral autoregulation in Alzheimer's disease. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab. 2011; 31(7):1572-7. PMC: 3137479. DOI: 10.1038/jcbfm.2011.69. View

Barnes J, Matzek L, Charkoudian N, Joyner M, Curry T, Hart E . Association of cardiac baroreflex sensitivity with blood pressure transients: influence of sex and menopausal status. Front Physiol. 2012; 3:187. PMC: 3369369. DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2012.00187. View

Carter H, Maxwell J, Hellsten Y, Thompson A, Thijssen D, Jones H . The impact of acute remote ischaemic preconditioning on cerebrovascular function. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2020; 120(3):603-612. PMC: 7042189. DOI: 10.1007/s00421-019-04297-1. View

Sagawa K, GUYTON A . Pressure-flow relationships in isolated canine cerebral circulation. Am J Physiol. 1961; 200:711-4. DOI: 10.1152/ajplegacy.1961.200.4.711. View

10.

Lu H, Xu F, Rodrigue K, Kennedy K, Cheng Y, Flicker B . Alterations in cerebral metabolic rate and blood supply across the adult lifespan. Cereb Cortex. 2010; 21(6):1426-34. PMC: 3097991. DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhq224. View

11.

Labrecque L, Rahimaly K, Imhoff S, Paquette M, Le Blanc O, Malenfant S . Dynamic cerebral autoregulation is attenuated in young fit women. Physiol Rep. 2019; 7(2):e13984. PMC: 6335382. DOI: 10.14814/phy2.13984. View

12.

Moreau K, Hildreth K, Meditz A, Deane K, Kohrt W . Endothelial function is impaired across the stages of the menopause transition in healthy women. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2012; 97(12):4692-700. PMC: 3513538. DOI: 10.1210/jc.2012-2244. View

13.

Carey B, Eames P, Blake M, Panerai R, Potter J . Dynamic cerebral autoregulation is unaffected by aging. Stroke. 2000; 31(12):2895-900. DOI: 10.1161/01.str.31.12.2895. View

14.

Smirl J, Hoffman K, Tzeng Y, Hansen A, Ainslie P . Methodological comparison of active- and passive-driven oscillations in blood pressure; implications for the assessment of cerebral pressure-flow relationships. J Appl Physiol (1985). 2015; 119(5):487-501. PMC: 4556839. DOI: 10.1152/japplphysiol.00264.2015. View

15.

Xing C, Tarumi T, Meijers R, Turner M, Repshas J, Xiong L . Arterial Pressure, Heart Rate, and Cerebral Hemodynamics Across the Adult Life Span. Hypertension. 2017; 69(4):712-720. PMC: 5344744. DOI: 10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.116.08986. View

16.

Busija D, Heistad D . Factors involved in the physiological regulation of the cerebral circulation. Rev Physiol Biochem Pharmacol. 1984; 101:161-211. DOI: 10.1007/BFb0027696. View

17.

Giller C, Bowman G, Dyer H, Mootz L, Krippner W . Cerebral arterial diameters during changes in blood pressure and carbon dioxide during craniotomy. Neurosurgery. 1993; 32(5):737-41; discussion 741-2. View

18.

Zhang R, Zuckerman J, Giller C, Levine B . Transfer function analysis of dynamic cerebral autoregulation in humans. Am J Physiol. 1998; 274(1 Pt 2):H233-41. DOI: 10.1152/ajpheart.1998.274.1.h233. View

19.

La Rovere M, Pinna G, Raczak G . Baroreflex sensitivity: measurement and clinical implications. Ann Noninvasive Electrocardiol. 2008; 13(2):191-207. PMC: 6931942. DOI: 10.1111/j.1542-474X.2008.00219.x. View

20.

Oudegeest-Sander M, van Beek A, Abbink K, Olde Rikkert M, Hopman M, Claassen J . Assessment of dynamic cerebral autoregulation and cerebrovascular CO2 reactivity in ageing by measurements of cerebral blood flow and cortical oxygenation. Exp Physiol. 2013; 99(3):586-98. DOI: 10.1113/expphysiol.2013.076455. View