Publication date: Jul 14, 2023
Previous studies show that COVID-19 survivors have elevated muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA), endothelial dysfunction, and aortic stiffening. However, the neurovascular responses to mental stress and exercise are still unexplored. We hypothesized that COVID-19 survivors compared with age- and body mass index (BMI)-matched healthy controls exhibit abnormal neurovascular responses to mental stress and physical exercise. Fifteen severe COVID-19 survivors (aged: 49+/-2 years, BMI: 30+/-1 kg/m) and 15 well-matched control subjects (aged: 46+/-3 years, BMI: 29+/-1 kg/m) were studied. MSNA (microneurography), forearm blood flow (FBF), and forearm vascular conductance (FVC, venous occlusion plethysmography), mean arterial pressure (MAP, Finometer), and heart rate (HR, EKG) were measured during a 3-minutes mental stress (Stroop color word test) and during a 3-minutes isometric handgrip exercise (30% of maximal voluntary contraction). During mental stress, MSNA (frequency and incidence) responses were higher in COVID-19 survivors than in controls (P0. 05). MAP was lower in COVID-19 survivors (P
| Concepts | Keywords |
|---|---|
| Finometer | blood pressure |
| Handgrip | exercise |
| Hemodynamic | mental stress |
| Minutes | peripheral blood flow |
| Therapy | Sympathetic activity |
Semantics
| Type | Source | Name |
|---|---|---|
| disease | MESH | COVID-19 |
| disease | IDO | blood |
| disease | VO | frequency |