Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Original Article
  • Published:

Cold stimulation induces different responses of ophthalmic artery blood flow velocity depending on baseline blood pressure and gender

Journal of Human Hypertension volume 24, pages 124–133 (2010)Cite this article

Abstract

Earlier, we have introduced the spectral index (SI), which was derived from the harmonic content of the blood flow velocity envelope of the ophthalmic artery. SI changed in dependency on the baseline blood pressure (bBP). We now examined SI during sympathetic activation by cold stimulation for 300 s in dependency on bBP to investigate the response to sympathetic neural activity in arterial hypertension. Ten men and 12 women with normal bBP (age, 60.5±4.6 years and 61.9±7.2 years) and age-adjusted men and women with increased bBP underwent the cold pressor test, including a periodical measurement of blood pressure and blood flow velocity in the ophthalmic artery, the latter by pulsed Doppler sonography. From this, the course of the SI was calculated. During cold stimulation men with increased bBP achieved their SI peak and their systolic blood pressure peak earlier than those with normal bBP (P=0.002 and P=0.035, respectively) and their SI slope was steeper than in normotensive men (P=0.002). Multiple testing showed that the difference of SI decrease between men with normal and increased bBP occurs on average 60 s after the beginning of cold stimulation (P=0.018). These differences were not found between female blood pressure groups, but the results in women may be influenced by antihypertensive treatment of some of the hypertensive women. In conclusion, the SI is useful to evaluate the response to sympathetic activation in hypertensive men but a larger study population should confirm the study results in women.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Evans JM, Ziegler MG, Patwardhan AR, Ott JB, Kim CS, Leonelli FM et al. Gender differences in autonomic cardiovascular regulation: spectral, hormonal, and hemodynamic indexes. J Appl Physiol 2001; 91: 2611–2618.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Shoemaker JK, Hogeman CS, Khan M, Kimmerly DS, Sinoway LI . Gender affects sympathetic and hemodynamic response to postural stress. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 2001; 281: H2028–H2035.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Shibahara N, Matsuda H, Umeno K, Shimada Y, Itoh T, Terasawa K . The responses of skin blood flow, mean arterial pressure, and R-R interval induced by cold stimulation with cold wind and ice water. J Auton Nerv Syst 1996; 61: 109–115.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Mark AL . The sympathetic nervous system in hypertension: a potential long-term regulator of arterial pressure. J Hypertens 1996; 5 (Suppl 14): S159–S165.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Michelson G, Harazny J, Schmieder RE, Berendes R, Fiermann T, Wärntges S . Fourier analysis of the envelope of the ophthalmic artery blood flow velocity: age- and blood pressure related impact. Hypertension 2007; 50: 964–969.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Cooley JW, Tukey OW . An algorithm for the machine calculation of complex fourier series. Math Comput 1965; 19: 297–301.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Nichols WW, O’Rourke MF . Wave reflections. In: Nichols WW, O’Rourke MF (eds). McDonald's Blood Flow in Arteries: Theoretical, Experimental and Clinical Principles, 4th edn. Arnold, London, UK, 1989, pp 201–222.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Tao J, Jin YF, Yang Z, Wang LC, Gao XR, Lui L et al. Reduced arterial elasticity is associated with endothelial dysfunction in persons of advancing age: comparative study of non-invasive pulse wave analysis and laser Doppler blood flow measurement. Am J Hypertens 2004; 17: 654–659.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Njemanze PC, Beck OJ, Gomez CR, Horenstein S . Fourier analysis of the cerebrovascular system. Stroke 1991; 22: 721–726.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. McVeigh GE, Hamilton PK, Morgan DR . Evaluation of mechanical arterial properties: clinical, experimental and therapeutic aspects. Clin Sci (Lond) 2002; 102: 51–67.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Victor RG, Leimbach Jr WN, Seals DR, Wallin BG, Mark AL . Effects of the cold pressor test on muscle sympathetic nerve activity in humans. Hypertension 1987; 9: 429–436.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Weise F, Laude D, Girard A, Zitoun P, Siché JP, Elghozi JL . Effects of the cold pressor test on short-term fluctuations of finger arterial blood pressure and heart rate in normal subjects. Clin Auton Res 1993; 3: 303–310.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Benetos A, Safar ME . Response to the cold pressor test in normotensive and hypertensive patients. Am J Hypertens 1991; 4: 627–629.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Lafleche AB, Pannier BM, Laloux B, Safar ME . Arterial response during cold pressor test in borderline hypertension. Am J Physiol 1998; 275: H409–H415.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Riva-Rocci S . Un nuovo sfigmomanometro (a new sphygmomanometer). Gazzetta Medica di Torino 1896; 50: 981–996.

    Google Scholar 

  16. European Society of Hypertension-European Society of Cardiology Guidelines Committee. European Society of Hypertension-European Society of Cardiology guidelines for the management of arterial hypertension. J Hypertens 2003; 21: 1011–1053.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Michelson G, Patzelt A, Harazny J . Flickering light increases retinal blood flow. Retina 2002; 22: 336–343.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Korner PI, Bobik A, Angus JA, Adams MA, Friberg P . Resistance control in hypertension. J Hypertens 1989; 4 (Suppl 7): S125–S134.

    Google Scholar 

  19. Stehouwer CD . Is measurement of endothelial dysfunction clinically useful? Eur J Clin Invest 1999; 29: 459–461.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. McVeigh GE, Bank AJ, Cohn JN . Arterial compliance. In: Willerson JT, Cohn JN (eds). Cardiovascular Medicine, 2nd edn. Churchill Livingstone: Philadelphia, 2000 pp 1479–1496.

    Google Scholar 

  21. Heagerty AM, Aalkjaer C, Bund SJ, Korsgaard N, Mulvany MJ . Small artery structure in hypertension. Dual processes of remodeling and growth. Hypertension 1993; 21: 391–397.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Mulvany MJ . A reduced elastic modulus of vascular wall components in hypertension? Hypertension 1992; 20: 7–9.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Nagaoka T, Mori F, Yoshida A . Retinal artery response to acute systemic blood pressure increase during cold pressor test in humans. Invest. Ophthalmol Vis Sci 2002; 43: 1941–1945.

    Google Scholar 

  24. Delaey C, Van De Voorde J . Regulatory mechanisms in the retinal and choroidal circulation. Ophthalmic Res 2000; 32: 249–256.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Karamanoglu M, Gallagher DE, Avolio AP, O’Rourke MF . Pressure wave propagation in a multibranched model of the human upper limb. Am J Physiol 1995; 269: H1363–H1369.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Antony I, Aptecar E, Lerebours G, Nitenberg A . Coronary artery constriction caused by the cold pressor test in human hypertension. Hypertension 1994; 24: 12–219.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank J Welzenbach, for providing the CPT software. This study has been supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Bonn, Germany (Sonderforschungsbereich SFB 539 BII.1, Glaukome einschließlich PEX).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ophthalmology, University Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany

    G Michelson, J Harazny & S Wärntges

Authors
  1. G Michelson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. J Harazny
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. S Wärntges
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to G Michelson.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Michelson, G., Harazny, J. & Wärntges, S. Cold stimulation induces different responses of ophthalmic artery blood flow velocity depending on baseline blood pressure and gender. J Hum Hypertens 24, 124–133 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/jhh.2009.46

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/jhh.2009.46

Keywords

Search

Advanced search

Quick links