Altered Cardiovascular Reactivity to and Recovery from Cold Face Test-Induced Parasympathetic Stimulation in Essential Hypertension

Figures

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  Figure 1. Systolic Blood Pressure (SBP) response to Cold Face Test (CFT; grey bar) in hypertensive participants (black dots) and normotensive controls (white dots) (mean ± SEM). A repeated measures ANOVA revealed that SBP reactivity did not differ between hypertensives and normotensives (interaction group-by-time: p = 0.44) except for the higher overall SBP in hypertensives (main effect of group: p < 0.001). Repeated measures ANOVAs calculated separately in hypertensives and normotensives revealed main effects of time in both groups (p′s < 0.001). Asterisks indicate significant differences between measurement timepoints during/after CFT and the respective baseline levels within each group (* p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01; *** p < 0.001).

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  Figure 2. Diastolic Blood Pressure (DBP) response to Cold Face Test (CFT; grey bar) in hypertensive participants (black dots) and normotensive controls (white dots) (mean ± SEM). A repeated measures ANOVA revealed that hypertensives did not show DBP decreases after CFT-cessation as did normotensive controls (interaction group-by-time: p < 0.027). Repeated measures ANOVAs calculated separately in hypertensives and normotensives confirmed a significant main effect of time for DBP in normotensives (p < 0.002), but not in hypertensives (p = 0.59). Asterisks indicate significant differences between measurement timepoints during/after CFT and the respective baseline levels within each group (* p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01).

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  Figure 3. Heart rate (HR) response to Cold Face Test (CFT; grey bar) in hypertensive participants (black dots) and normotensive controls (whites dots) (mean ± SEM). A repeated measures ANOVA revealed that hypertensives failed to show HR decreases in immediate response to CFT as did normotensive controls (interaction group-by-time: p < 0.063). Repeated measures ANOVAs calculated separately in hypertensives and normotensives confirmed a significant main effect of time for HR in normotensives (p < 0.001), but not in hypertensives (p = 0.62). Asterisks indicate significant differences between measurement timepoints during/after CFT and the respective baseline levels within each group (** p < 0.01).

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  Figure 4. Heart rate (HR) reactivity to Cold Face Test (CFT; grey bar) in hypertensive participants and normotensive controls with higher and lower chronic stress (mean ± SEM). A general linear model revealed that chronic stress moderates HR reactivity to CFT (three-way interaction TICS-CSSS-by-group-by-time: p < 0.045) with chronically stressed normotensives resembling the HR reactivity patterns of hypertensives.