Submitted on February 10, 2005
Accepted on June 2, 2005
Physical exercise capacity is associated with coronary and peripheral vascular function in healthy young adults
Ulrika Hagg1, Birger Wandt2, Goran Bergstrom2, Reinhard Volkmann2, and Li-ming Gan3*
1 Department of Physiology, Inst. of Physiology & Pharmacology, Gothenburg, Sweden
2 Department of Clinical Physiology, the Sahlgrenska Academy, Cardiovascular Institute, Gothenburg, Sweden
3 Department of Physiology, Inst. of Physiology & Pharmacology, Gothenburg, Sweden; Department of Clinical Physiology, the Sahlgrenska Academy, Cardiovascular Institute, Gothenburg, Sweden
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: li-ming.gan{at}hjl.gu.se.
Short-term exercise training has been shown to improve cardiovascular function, while long-term effects of a physically active life-style on coronary artery function in particular, are still not well studied. We explored possible relationships between physical exercise capacity and coronary and peripheral vascular function in healthy young adults. Twenty-nine young healthy male and female volunteers participated in the study. They underwent 1) basic clinical and echocardiographic characterization; 2) coronary flow velocity reserve (CFVR) measurement of the left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD); 3) common carotid artery (CCA) intima-media thickness (IMT) measurement; 4) assessment of CCA stiffness index (SI); 5) forearm flow-mediated vasodilation (FMD); 6) sub-maximal exercise test. The calculated weight adjusted maximal oxygen uptake capacity (VO2maxc) was positively correlated to LAD CFVR, and inversely correlated to IMT and SI. Also, subjects with high compared to moderate exercise capacity, had higher FMD. In addition, subjects with LAD CFVR in the upper median had greater ratios between endothelial-dependent and independent vasodilation in the forearm and lower SI in CCA. High exercise capacity due to a physically active life-style is associated with high coronary and peripheral artery function, indicating an early protective role of physical exercise for cardiovascular health.
