Sex Difference in the Effect of Whole Body Heating on Cardiovascular Functions

Cold pressor test (CPT) is a well-known method for evaluating non-baroreflex mediated autonomic cardiovascular functions in humans. It has been reported that autonomic cardiovascular response to CPT differs in males and females and that heat stress attenuates the increase in arterial blood pressure during CPT. Study has also indicated that heat stress attenuates the increase in arterial blood pressure during CPT. The present study assessed the autonomic cardiovascular reactivity in males and females during cold pressor test before and after whole body heating for 40 min. 20 healthy Indian males and 18 females participated in the study. The participants were exposed to 40°C dry bulb temperature and 40% relative humidity in a simulated thermal chamber. They performed CPT before and after heat stress and their beat to beat heart rate and blood pressure were recorded. It was observed that baroreflex sensitivity (BRS) was significantly lower in females during CPT before heat stress (p < 0.01) as well as after heat stress (p < 0.01). Moreover, following whole body heating, the BRS during CPT increased slightly in females but not in males. Stroke Volume (SV) increased significantly during CPT before heat stress in females from pre-heat baseline (82 ml/beat vs. 101 ml/beat) (p < 0.001) as well as during CPT after heat stress from post-heat baseline (75 ml/beat vs. 95 ml/ beat) (p < 0.01). SV increased significantly in males during CPT after heat stress only (p < 0.01) as compared to post-heat baseline (82.5 ml/beat vs. 94.5 ml/beat). Frequency domain analysis of heart rate variability indicated that during CPT, low frequency power in males was higher than females (p < 0.05) and high frequency power was higher in females than males (p < 0.05). This suggests that autonomic modulation of cardiovascular function during CPT in males is mediated mainly via sympathetic neural system and in females it is mediated via vagal system. LF/HF ratio during CPT was found to be significantly higher in males (2.54) than females (1.27) before heat stress (p < 0.01).