Effects of Prior Short-term Ischemic Preconditioning on Sitting-Induced Lower Limb Vascular Dysfunction in Healthy Men

The purpose of the study was to examine whether a 7-day ischemic preconditioning (IPC) intervention would attenuate the prolonged sitting-induced lower limb vascular dysfunction in healthy men. Methods: In a randomized control trial, 12 healthy men (age, 24.92.6 years) were assigned to either a 7-day IPC intervention (65 minutes of bilateral thigh cuff occlusions at 200 mm Hg) or a sham control group (65 minutes of bilateral thigh cuff occlusions at 20 mm Hg). After the 7-day IPC intervention, the participants underwent a 4-hour prolonged sitting. We measured blood pressure, central blood pressure, and superficial femoral artery flow-mediated dilation at baseline (before intervention), pre-sitting (after intervention), post-2-hour sitting, and post-4-hour sitting. Results: During the 4-hour sitting time, blood pressure and central blood pressure did not significantly change from baseline in any group. However, superficial femoral artery flow-mediated dilation decreased from baseline more so in the sham control group (5.21.9 to 1.71.2) compared with the IPC group (4.62.2 to 3.11.5, p=0.015 for interaction). Conclusion: These findings demonstrate that a 7-day IPC protected against lower limb vascular dysfunction during prolonged sitting in healthy men.