Table 2.
Systemic haemodynamics and brachial artery parameters after placebo and BH4 supplementation
| Young sedentary | Older sedentary | Older endurance-trained | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Placebo | BH4 | Placebo | BH4 | Placebo | BH4 | |
| Systolic BP (mmHg) | 110 ± 3 | 111 ± 4 | 111 ± 4 | 113 ± 5 | 107 ± 3 | 108 ± 4 |
| Diastolic BP (mmHg) | 58 ± 2 | 59 ± 2 | 69 ± 1* | 69 ± 2* | 66 ± 2* | 67 ± 2* |
| Heart rate (beats min−1) | 52 ± 3 | 50 ± 3 | 58 ± 3 | 55 ± 2 | 46 ± 2*† | 46 ± 2*† |
| Baseline D (mm) | 4.13 ± 0.11 | 4.10 ± 0.11 | 4.36 ± 0.16 | 4.33 ± 0.16 | 3.99 ± 0.14 | 3.96 ± 0.14 |
| Baseline MBV (cm s−1) | 5.5 ± 0.5 | 5.3 ± 0.5 | 5.7 ± 0.3 | 5.4 ± 0.4 | 4.8 ± 0.3 | 4.9 ± 0.3 |
| Peak MBV (cm s−1) | 42.9 ± 2.5 | 43.8 ± 1.4 | 44.6 ± 3.4 | 40.9 ± 2.3 | 37.2 ± 2.1† | 36.2 ± 2.2* |
| SSbase (dyn cm−2) | 3.8 ± 0.3 | 3.5 ± 0.2 | 3.9 ± 0.3 | 3.7 ± 0.3 | 3.3 ± 0.3 | 3.5 ± 0.5 |
| SSpeak (dyn cm−2) | 28.6 ± 1.7 | 29.2 ± 1.1 | 29.0 ± 3.2 | 26.2 ± 1.8 | 26.7 ± 2.3 | 24.6 ± 1.7 |
| FMD (Δmm) | 0.32 ± 0.02 | 0.31 ± 0.02 | 0.16 ± 0.03* | 0.26 ± 0.02‡ | 0.23 ± 0.01† | 0.24 ± 0.02 |
| FMD (%) | 7.7 ± 0.5 | 7.6 ± 0.6 | 3.9 ± 0.7* | 6.0 ± 0.7‡ | 5.9 ± 0.5† | 6.3 ± 0.6 |
Data are means ± s.e.m. BH4, tetrahydrobiopterin. BP, blood pressure; D, diameter; MBV, mean blood velocity, FMD, flow-mediated dilatation; SSbase, baseline shear stress (1 dyn = 10−5 N); SSpeak, peak shear stress.
*
P < 0.05 versus young sedentary;
†
P < 0.05 versus older sedentary;
‡
P < 0.05 versus placebo in the same group.