Association of sex and age with responses to lower-body negative pressure

Responses of 21 women and 29 men (29-56 yr of age) to -50 Torr lower body negative pressure (LBNP) were examined for differences due to sex or age. Responses to LBNP were normal, including fluid shift from thorax to lower body, increased heart rate and peripheral resistance, and decreased stroke volume, cardiac output, and Heather index of ventricular function. Mean arterial blood pressure did not change. Comparison of responses of the women to responses of an age-matched subset of the men (n = 26) indicated the men had larger relative increases in calf circumference and greater increases in peripheral resistance during LBNP than the women, whereas the women experienced greater increases in thoracic impedance and heart rate. Analyses of responses of the 29 men for age-related differences indicated older subjects had greater increases in peripheral resistance and less heart rate elevation in response to LBNP (P less than 0.05 for all differences, except sex-related heart rate difference, where P less than 0.10). Based on these data and the data of other investigators, we hypothesize the age-related circulatory differences in response to LBNP are due to a reduction in vagal response and a switch to predominant sympathetic nervous system influence in older men. We cannot exclude the possibility that diminished responsiveness in the afferent arm of the baroreceptor reflex also plays a role in the attenuated heart rate response of older men to LBNP.