Cardiovascular and humoral responses to sustained muscle metaboreflex activation in humans

The cardiovascular and humoral responses to sustained muscle metaboreflex activation were examined in eight male volunteers while they performed two 24-min exercise protocols. Each of these consisted of six 1-min bouts of isometric handgrip exercise (the left and right hands being used alternately) at 50% of maximal voluntary contraction; after each bout, there was either 3-min postexercise occlusion (occlusion protocol) or 3-min rest (control protocol). In the occlusion protocol, mean arterial blood pressure was approximately 25 mmHg higher than during the control protocol, indicating that the muscle metaboreflex was activated during occlusion. During the control protocol, plasma renin activity, plasma vasopressin, and adrenocorticotropic hormone values were not significantly different from the values at rest. During the occlusion protocol, however, plasma renin activity, plasma vasopressin, and adrenocorticotropic hormone were all significantly increased at 25 min. These data demonstrate that, in humans, the sustained activation of the muscle metaboreflex causes the secretion of several hormones originating from different regions.