Hemodynamic profile and compensation deficit in African and European Americans during physical and mental stress

Increased vascular reactivity to stress has been suggested to contribute to the greater risk for developing hypertension in African Americans. Here, we examined the way (hemodynamic profile) and the extent to which (compensation deficit) cardiac output and total peripheral resistance compensate for each other in determining blood pressure responses to a physical (orthostasis) and a mental (anger recall) stress task, in normotensive African American (AA, n = 30) and European American (EA, n = 48) college students. Blood pressure stress reactivity did not differ as a function of race. However, AAs showed a prominent vascular hemodynamic profile and a significant compensation deficit in response to both tasks, while EAs showed no hemodynamic response to orthostasis and a mixed profile in response to anger recall. The present findings demonstrate a more prominent vascular hemodynamic reactivity to stress in AAs, which could contribute to the pathogenesis of hypertension in this ethnic group.