Effects of aging on leg pulse wave velocity response to single-leg cycling

There is increasing awareness that pulse wave velocity (PWV), an index of arterial stiffness, changes transiently via alteration of vascular smooth muscular tone. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of aging on the response of leg PWV to a low-intensity exercise bout. Ten older (69 ± 3 years) and 6 younger (21 ± 1 years) men were studied. Leg PWV in each subject was measured before and after a low-intensity single-leg cycling (20. W, 5. min). The younger subject group demonstrated a significant reduction in the exercised leg PWV (-8.0%) immediately after the exercise, whereas the non-exercised leg PWV did not change significantly (+2.2%). In the older subject group, no significant changes in PWV were observed in the exercised leg nor the non-exercised leg. There were no significant changes in other hemodynamic variables before or after the exercise bout in either younger or older subjects. These results indicate that the exercise-induced temporal reduction in leg arterial stiffness is blunted in older adults. The lack of exercise-induced reduction in leg PWV may be due to an age-related impairment of endothelial function.