Two weeks of remote ischemic conditioning improves brachial artery flow mediated dilation in chronic stroke survivors. J Appl Physiol (1985) 2020 Dec 01;129(6):1348-1354
Date
10/23/2020Pubmed ID
33090908Pubmed Central ID
PMC7792845DOI
10.1152/japplphysiol.00398.2020Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85097570561 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 6 CitationsAbstract
Many stroke survivors have reduced cardiorespiratory fitness as a result of their stroke. Ischemic conditioning (IC) is a noninvasive, cost-effective, easy-to-administer intervention that can be performed at home and has been shown to improve both motor function in stroke survivors and vascular endothelial function in healthy individuals. In this study, we examined the effects of 2 wk of remote IC (RIC) on brachial artery flow mediated dilation (FMD) in chronic stroke survivors. We hypothesized that FMD would be improved following RIC compared with a sham RIC control group. This was a prospective, randomized, double-blinded, controlled study. Twenty-four chronic stroke survivors (>6 mo after stroke) were enrolled and randomized to receive either RIC or sham RIC on their affected thigh every other day for 2 wk. For the RIC group, a blood pressure cuff was inflated to 225 mmHg for 5 min, followed by 5 min of recovery, and repeated a total of five times per session. For the sham RIC group, the inflation pressure was 10 mmHg. Brachial artery FMD was assessed on the nonaffected arm at study enrollment and following the 2-wk intervention period. Nine men and fourteen women completed all study procedures. Brachial artery FMD increased from 5.4 ± 4.8 to 7.8 ± 4.4% (P = 0.030; n = 12) in the RIC group, while no significant change was observed in the sham RIC group (3.5 ± 3.9% pretreatment versus 2.4 ± 3.1% posttreatment; P = 0.281, n = 11). Two weeks of RIC increases brachial artery FMD in chronic stroke survivors.NEW & NOTEWORTHY In this study, we report that 2 wk of remote ischemic conditioning (RIC) improves brachial artery flow-mediated dilation in chronic stroke survivors. Because poor cardiovascular health puts stroke survivors at a heightened risk for recurrent stroke and other cardiovascular events, an intervention that is simple, cost-effective, and easy to perform like RIC holds promise as a means to improve cardiovascular health in this at-risk population.
Author List
Hyngstrom AS, Nguyen JN, Wright MT, Tarima SS, Schmit BD, Gutterman DD, Durand MJAuthors
Matt Durand PhD Associate Professor in the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation department at Medical College of WisconsinAllison Hyngstrom PhD Associate Professor in the Physical Therapy department at Marquette University
Brian Schmit PhD Professor in the Biomedical Engineering department at Marquette University
Sergey S. Tarima PhD Associate Professor in the Institute for Health and Equity department at Medical College of Wisconsin
MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
Brachial ArteryDilatation
Double-Blind Method
Endothelium, Vascular
Female
Humans
Male
Prospective Studies
Regional Blood Flow
Stroke
Survivors
Vasodilation
