February 16, 2023Open Access
Prolonged sitting and peripheral vascular function: potential mechanisms and methodological considerations
Resultado clave
Prolonged sitting is associated with increased risks for subclinical atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease, potentially due to disturbances in macro- and microvascular function.
PICO estructurado
Does breaking up prolonged sitting with muscular contractions prevent sitting-induced disturbances in peripheral vascular function?
P
Población
General population including adults and youths exposed to prolonged sitting
I
Intervención
Prolonged sitting (uninterrupted for 1 h or more at a time)
C
Comparador
Breaking-up prolonged sitting with skeletal muscle contractions (walking, fidgeting, cycling/pedaling, simple resistance exercises, and passive leg movements) or straight limb position
O
Resultado
Peripheral hemodynamics, macrovascular function, microvascular function, and circulating molecular imbalancessurrogate
Prolonged sitting creates a transient proatherogenic environment via impaired peripheral hemodynamics and arterial bending, highlighting the potential of intermittent muscular contractions to preserve vascular function.
Limitaciones
- Concerns regarding the experimental environment and population considerations for future studies
Resumen
Sitting time is associated with increased risks for subclinical atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease development, and this is thought to be partially due to sitting-induced disturbances in macro- and microvascular function as well as molecular imbalances. Despite surmounting evidence supporting these claims, contributing mechanisms to these phenomena remain largely unknown. In this review, we discuss evidence for potential mechanisms of sitting-induced perturbations in peripheral hemodynamics and vascular function and how these potential mechanisms may be targeted using active and passive muscular contraction methods. Furthermore, we also highlight concerns regarding the experimental environment and population considerations for future studies. Optimizing prolonged sitting investigations may allow us to not only better understand the hypothesized sitting-induced transient proatherogenic environment but to also enhance methods and devise mechanistic targets to salvage sitting-induced attenuations in vascular function, which may ultimately play a role in averting atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease development.