The effect of sex on the isolated and combined α‐ and β‐adrenergic control of blood flow during handgrip in adults at high altitude: An exploratory study

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  FIGURE 1. (a) Resting forearm blood flow across conditions and altitudes in females and males. Linear mixed‐effects model identified a main effect of blockade condition (p < 0.001) and sex (p = 0.024), but no effect of altitude (p = 0.330). The interaction between condition and sex was significant (p = 0.047). Post‐hoc analyses found no difference between control and β‐blockade (p = 0.668), but a significant difference between control and α‐β‐blockade (p < 0.001) and β‐blockade and α‐β‐blockade (p < 0.001). n = 5 for females, except in β‐blockade and α‐β‐blockade at high altitude (n = 4); n = 7 for males, except in control at high altitude (n = 8), and α‐β‐blockade at low altitude (n = 6); *p < 0.05 compared to control; ^p < 0.05 compared to β‐blockade. (b) Resting forearm vascular conductance across conditions and altitudes in females and males. There was a main effect of condition (p < 0.001) and sex (p = 0.025), but no effect of altitude (p = 0.846), as identified by linear mixed‐effects model. Interactions were not significant between any factors. Post‐hoc multiple comparisons identified a difference between control and α‐β‐blockade (p < 0.001) and between β‐blockade and α‐β‐blockade…

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  FIGURE 2. (a) The change in forearm blood flow across conditions and altitudes in females and males. There was a main effect of condition (p < 0.001), but no effect of altitude (p = 0.813). Interactions were not significant between any variables. Post‐hoc analyses identified a difference between α‐β‐blockade compared to control (p = 0.001) and β‐blockade (p < 0.001) conditions, but no difference between control and β‐blockade (p = 0.299). There was no effect of sex on the change in forearm blood flow (p = 0.696). n = 5 for females, except in β‐blockade at high (n = 3) altitude, and α‐β‐blockade at high altitude (n = 4); n = 8 for males, except β‐blockade at low altitude (n = 7) and α‐β‐blockade at low (n = 6) and high altitude (n = 7); *p < 0.05 compared to control; ^p < 0.05 compared to β‐blockade. (b) The change in forearm vascular conductance across conditions and altitudes in females and males. There was a main effect of condition (p < 0.001), but no main effect of altitude (p = 0.889). Interactions were not significant between any variables. Post‐hoc multiple comparisons found a difference between control and α‐β‐blockade (p < 0.001) and between β‐blockade and α‐β‐blockade (p <…