Rationale: Diastolic blood pressure (DBP), which is influenced by cardiac output and total peripheral resistance, normally remains stable or decreases during the transition from rest to exercise. Dyslipidemia has been shown to attenuate vasodilation, and therefore potentially assuage the normal reduction in peripheral vascular resistance during exercise.

Objective: This investigation examines differences in lipids between apparently healthy individuals with a normal vs hypertensive DBP response to exercise.

Methods: Thirty-five apparently healthy subjects (age: 57.8+/-15.0 years, 13 males/22 females) with a normal DBP at rest (<80 mmHg) that increased to a hypertensive level at maximal exercise (<=90 mmHg) were randomly age and sex matched to 35 (age: 56.5 +/-13.4 years) apparently healthy subjects with a normal DBP at rest (<80 mmHg) that remained below a hypertensive level at maximal exercise (<90 mmHg).

Results: Paired t test results are listed in Table 1. Diastolic BP was significantly higher in the group with an abnormal response to exercise. Total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein were also significantly higher in the group with an abnormal DBP response to exercise. All other variables were similar between groups.

Table 1. No caption available.

Discussion: The results of the present study indicate elevated lipids are associated with a hypertensive DBP response during maximal exercise in apparently healthy individuals. The abnormal DBP response to exercise observed in this study may be related to attenuated vasodilation in skeletal muscle induced by higher levels of low-density lipoprotein.