The acute effects of exercise intensity and inorganic nitrate supplementation on vascular health in females after menopause.
Austin C Hogwood, Joaquin Ortiz de Zevallos, Nathan Weeldreyer, James R Clark, Vincent Mazzella, Lauren Cain, Dylan Myaing, Kaitlin M Love, Arthur Weltman, Jason D Allen
Author Information
Austin C Hogwood: Department of Kinesiology, School of Education and Human Development, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. ORCID
Joaquin Ortiz de Zevallos: Department of Kinesiology, School of Education and Human Development, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. ORCID
Nathan Weeldreyer: Department of Kinesiology, School of Education and Human Development, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, United States.
James R Clark: Department of Kinesiology, School of Education and Human Development, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, United States.
Vincent Mazzella: Department of Kinesiology, School of Education and Human Development, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, United States.
Lauren Cain: Department of Kinesiology, School of Education and Human Development, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, United States.
Dylan Myaing: Department of Kinesiology, School of Education and Human Development, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, United States.
Kaitlin M Love: Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Medicine, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, Virginia, United States.
Arthur Weltman: Department of Kinesiology, School of Education and Human Development, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, United States.
Jason D Allen: Department of Kinesiology, School of Education and Human Development, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. ORCID
Menopause is associated with reduced nitric oxide bioavailability and vascular function. Although exercise is known to improve vascular function, this is blunted in estrogen-deficient females post-menopause (PM). Here, we examined the effects of acute exercise at differing intensities with and without inorganic nitrate (NO) supplementation on vascular function in females PM. Participants were tested in a double-blinded, block-randomized design, consuming ∼13 mmol NO in the form of beetroot juice (BRJ; = 12) or placebo (PL; = 12) for 2 days before experimental visits and 2 h before testing. Visits consisted of vascular health measures before () and every 30 min after (, and ) calorically matched high-intensity exercise (HIE), moderate-intensity exercise (MIE), and a nonexercise control (CON). Blood was sampled at rest and 5-min postexercise for NO, NO, and ET-1. BRJ increased N-oxides and decreased ET-1 compared with PL, findings which were unchanged after experimental conditions ( < 0.05). BRJ improved peak Δflow-mediated dilation (FMD) compared with PL ( < 0.05), defined as the largest ΔFMD for each individual participant across all time points. FMD across time revealed an improvement ( = 0.05) in FMD between BRJ + HIE versus BRJ + CON, while BRJ + MIE had medium effects compared with BRJ + CON. In conclusion, NO supplementation combined with HIE improved FMD in postmenopausal females. NO supplementation combined with MIE may offer an alternative to those unwilling to perform HIE. Future studies should test whether long-term exercise training at high intensities with NO supplementation can enhance vascular health in females PM. This study compared exercise-induced changes in flow-mediated dilation after acute moderate- and high-intensity exercise in females postmenopause supplementing either inorganic nitrate (beetroot juice) or placebo. BRJ improved peak ΔFMD postexercise, and BRJ + HIE increased FMD measured as FMD over time. Neither PL + MIE nor PL + HIE improved FMD. These findings suggest that inorganic nitrate supplementation combined with high-intensity exercise may benefit vascular health in females PM.
