Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is associated with an increased risk of elevated blood pressure (i.e., hypertension). Although exercise training is prescribed to reduce this risk, training-induced reductions in blood pressure are blunted in women with PCOS. Examining blood responses during short-duration exercise may reveal mechanisms limiting blood pressure improvement to training in PCOS. Thus, we employed isometric handgrip (HG) exercise (40% of maximal voluntary contraction intensity until fatigue) with post-exercise circulatory occlusion (PECO; 2-min) to assess key mechanisms underlying blood pressure control during exercise in 5 young women with (average age of 24 years) and 5 young women without PCOS (average age of 26 years). We hypothesized that HG- and PECO-induced blood pressure responses would be greater in women with PCOS than women without PCOS, consistent with patterns observed in other hypertensive populations. Mean arterial pressure (MAP), cardiac output (CO), and total peripheral resistance (TPR) were measured continuously. Resting MAP, CO, and TPR did not differ between groups (all P>0.05). HG-induced changes in MAP (13±3 vs 12±5 mmHg, P=0.48), CO (0.8±1.1 vs 1.2±0.8, P=0.53), and TPR (1.0±2.9 vs -1.4±3.6, P=0.28) did not differ between PCOS and CTRL, respectively. Likewise, PECO-induced changes in MAP (13±6 vs 9±9 mmHg, P=0.52), CO (0.2±2.3 vs 0.2±1.1 L/min, P=1.00), and TPR (1.0±2.5 vs 1.2±3.9mmHg/L/min, P=0.93) did not differ between women with PCOS and women without PCOS. These preliminary findings suggest that HG blood pressure responses are not impacted by PCOS. CWU is funded by CIHR and FRQS.