β-adrenergic receptors do not impact exercise hyperemia during rhythmic handgrip exercise in males and females.

Authors

Connor J Doherty, Trevor James King, Benjamin P Thompson, Jou-Chung Chang, Leah M Mann, Armando Aguero, Kacper Wojcik, Ira Carson, Jason S Au, Glen E Foster, Paolo B Dominelli

Published in

Journal of applied physiology (Bethesda, Md. : 1985). Sep 24, 2026. Epub Sep 24, 2026.

Abstract

Sex differences in exercise hyperemia remain unclear, and the role of β-adrenergic receptors (β-AR) in this response is unknown. Accordingly, we examined the role of β-AR in modulating central and peripheral hemodynamic responses to rhythmic handgrip exercise in 10 females and 7 males under control conditions (CON) and during β-AR blockade with oral propranolol (PROP). Participants completed a low-intensity (10% MVC) and incremental (40, 80, 120 N) rhythmic handgrip exercise. Hemodynamic variables, including heart rate (HR), mean arterial pressure (MAP), brachial artery diameter (BA_D), forearm blood flow (Q̇_ARM), and vascular conductance (VC_ARM) were assessed at baseline and during steady state exercise for each intensity. The overall hyperemia response was assessed as the slope of the relationship between Q̇_ARM and VC_ARM over exercise intensity. β-AR blockade was achieved with two 80mg doses of oral HCl propranolol administered 7.5 and 1.5 hours prior to the PROP visit. β-adrenergic blockade reduced HR and absolute Q̇_ARM in males and females (both, p<0.05), but not MAP (p=0.49). The overall exercise hyperemia slope response for Q̇_ARM and VC_ARM did not differ by sex or with β-AR blockade (both p>0.05), even after adjusting to maximal handgrip strength (both, p>0.05). The relative increase in BA_D from baseline was blunted in females (p=0.03) but not males (p=0.96) during PROP. In conclusion, the exercise hyperemia response is preserved in males and females with systemic β-adrenergic receptor blockade. However, young females appear to have a greater reliance on β-AR relative to males in mediating macrovascular tone during exercise.

PMID:
42779467
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 24 Sep 2026.

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