Fig. 2.

Cardiovascular reactivity to the cold pressor test.

Heart rate (Panel A), mean blood pressure (Panel B), leg vascular conductance (LVC) (Panel C) and leg blood flow (Panel D) during rest, cold pressor test (CPT) and recovery. Data represented as group means ± SEM. Times series is shown on the left. Significance for phase (rest, CPT and recovery), group (RA, RA-HTN, NC and HTN) and interaction were assessed using ANOVA with repeated measures. Bar charts on the right represent changes from baseline. Significant group differences were assessed using a one-way ANOVA. *p ≤ 0.05. RA n = 12, RA-HTN n = 16, NC n = 16, HTN n = 16. For leg blood flow and leg vascular conductance RA-HTN n = 15, HTN n = 15.

BP = blood pressure, CPT = cold pressor test, HTN = hypertensive, LVC = leg vascular conductance, NC = normotensive control, RA = rheumatoid arthritis.