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Higher mean blood pressure is associated with autonomic imbalance but not with endothelial dysfunction in young soccer players.

BACKGROUND
Blood pressure (BP) should be kept within a narrow range to allow adequate tissue perfusion. In particular, heart-rate variability (HRV) can be used to assess autonomic cardiovascular modulation, and flow-mediated dilation (FMD) can provide valuable information about the ability of the cardiovascular system to adapt to different pressures. Our objective in the study described here was to investigate the effect of a difference of 10mm Hg in mean arterial pressure (MAP) on endothelial function and autonomic balance in young and normotensive soccer players.


METHODS
Twenty-nine young male soccer players (mean age 17.7 years) were divided into two groups according to their MAP (mm Hg): MAP-84 and MAP-94. The BP, FMD, HRV and maximum oxygen uptake (VO2max) of each group were measured.


RESULTS
Systolic BP (SBP) and diastolic BP (DBP) were significantly higher (P < 0.0001 and P < 0.006, respectively) in the MAP-94 group. There were no differences in VO2max and endothelial function in the two groups (P < 0.7699). However, the standard deviation (SD) of normal RR intervals (SDNN) and the square root of the mean squared differences in successive RR intervals (RMSSD) were significantly lower in the MAP-94 than in the MAP-84 group (P < 0.0001 and P < 0.005, respectively). In the MAP-94 group, both the high-and low-frequency components were significantly (P < 0.001, P < 0.021, P < 0.017, respectively) lower in both absolute and normalized units, whereas the LF/HF ratio was significantly (P < 0.012) higher.


CONCLUSIONS
Collectively, our findings indicate that in young soccer players, autonomic cardiovascular modulation is impaired when MAP is increased by 10mm Hg, even within an optimal range of BP and regardless of endothelial function and VO2max.