Plasma Steroids are Not Associated with Resting and Exercise Blood Pressure

Abstract

We investigated the associations between steroid hormones and resting and exercise blood pressure in the sedentary state and in response to an exercise program controlling for sex, body mass, ethnicity, age, oral contraceptives, hormone therapy, smoking and alcohol intake in subjects from the HERITAGE Family Study. In the sedentary state, 267 men (28% Blacks) and 301 women (37% Blacks) were available, and 241 men and 254 women completed the exercise program. Fourteen steroid hormones and sex hormone-binding globulin concentrations were assayed in a fasted state. Statistical significance was set at a Bonferroni adjusted p<0.0001. After controlling for the various covariates, only testosterone came close to a significant correlation with exercise systolic blood pressure at 50 W (r=−0.21, P=0.0006) in men. No other correlations with resting and exercise blood pressure traits were found at baseline. There were significant changes in blood pressure in response to the exercise program, but none of the correlations with baseline plasma steroids reached statistical significance. Plasma steroids do not correlate with resting and exercise blood pressure in sedentary adults and do not associate with blood pressure changes in response to a 20-week endurance exercise program.

Key words

hypertension - sedentary - endurance exercise - submaximal intensity

• References

• 1 Appel LJ, Wright Jr. JT, Greene T, Agodoa LY, Astor BC, Bakris GL, Cleveland WH, Charleston J, Contreras G, Faulkner ML, Gabbai FB, Gassman JJ, Hebert LA, Jamerson KA, Kopple JD, Kusek JW, Lash JP, Lea JP, Lewis JB, Lipkowitz MS, Massry SG, Miller ER, Norris K, Phillips RA, Pogue VA, Randall OS, Rostand SG, Smogorzewski MJ, Toto RD, Wang X, Group ACR. Intensive blood-pressure control in hypertensive chronic kidney disease. N Engl J Med 2010; 363: 918-929
• 2 Bazoukis G, Thomopoulos C, Tsioufis C. Effect of mineralocorticoid antagonists on blood pressure lowering: overview and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials in hypertension. J Hypertens 2018; DOI: 10.1097/HJH.0000000000001671:.
• 3 Borjesson M, Onerup A, Lundqvist S, Dahlof B. Physical activity and exercise lower blood pressure in individuals with hypertension: narrative review of 27 RCTs. Br J Sports Med 2016; 50: 356-361
• 4 Bouchard C, Leon AS, Rao DC, Skinner JS, Wilmore JH, Gagnon J. The HERITAGE family study. Aims, design, and measurement protocol. Med Sci Sports Exerc 1995; 27: 721-729
• 5 Carroll D, Phillips AC, Lord JM, Arlt W, Batty GD. Cortisol, dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate, their ratio and hypertension: evidence of associations in male veterans from the Vietnam Experience Study. J Hum Hypertens 2011; 25: 418-424
• 6 Couillard C, Gagnon J, Bergeron J, Leon AS, Rao DC, Skinner JS, Wilmore JH, Despres JP, Bouchard C. Contribution of body fatness and adipose tissue distribution to the age variation in plasma steroid hormone concentrations in men: the HERITAGE Family Study. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2000; 85: 1026-1031
• 7 Dubey RK, Oparil S, Imthurn B, Jackson EK. Sex hormones and hypertension. Cardiovasc Res 2002; 53: 688-708
• 8 Hammond GL. Plasma steroid-binding proteins: primary gatekeepers of steroid hormone action. J Endocrinol 2016; 230: R13-R25
• 9 Harriss DJ, Macsween A, Atkinson G. Standards for ethics in sport and exercise science research: 2018 update. Int J Sports Med 2017; 38: 1126-1131
• 10 Labrie F. All sex steroids are made intracellularly in peripheral tissues by the mechanisms of intracrinology after menopause. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol 2015; 145: 133-138
• 11 Luu-The V, Labrie F. The intracrine sex steroid biosynthesis pathways. Prog Brain Res 2010; 181: 177-192
• 12 Malan NT, Hamer M, Schutte AE, Huisman HW, van Rooyen JM, Schutte R, Mels CM, Steyn HS, Smith W, Fourie CM, Glyn M, Malan L. Low testosterone and hyperkinetic blood pressure responses in a cohort of South African men: the SABPA Study. Clin Exp Hypertens 2013; 35: 228-235
• 13 Maranon R, Reckelhoff JF. Sex and gender differences in control of blood pressure. Clin Sci (Lond) 2013; 125: 311-318
• 14 Maric-Bilkan C, Manigrasso MB. Sex differences in hypertension: contribution of the renin-angiotensin system. Gend Med 2012; 9: 287-291
• 15 Meyer EJ, Nenke MA, Rankin W, Lewis JG, Torpy DJ. Corticosteroid-binding globulin: A review of basic and clinical advances. Horm Metab Res 2016; 48: 359-371
• 16 Mundell L, Lindemann R, Douglas J. Monitoring long-term oral corticosteroids. BMJ Open Qual 2017; 6: e000209
• 17 Pescatello LS, Franklin BA, Fagard R, Farquhar WB, Kelley GA, Ray CA. American College of Sports M. American college of sports medicine position stand. Exercise and hypertension. Med Sci Sports Exerc 2004; 36: 533-553
• 18 Pimenta E. Hypertension in women. Hypertens Res 2012; 35: 148-152
• 19 Sato K, Iemitsu M. Exercise and sex steroid hormones in skeletal muscle. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol 2015; 145: 200-205
• 20 Schunkert H, Hense HW, Andus T, Riegger GA, Straub RH. Relation between dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate and blood pressure levels in a population-based sample. Am J Hypertens 1999; 12: 1140-1143
• 21 Traish AM. Testosterone therapy in men with testosterone deficiency: are the benefits and cardiovascular risks real or imagined?. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 2016; 311: R566-R573
• 22 Ukkola O, Gagnon J, Rankinen T, Thompson PA, Hong Y, Leon AS, Rao DC, Skinner JS, Wilmore JH, Bouchard C. Age, body mass index, race and other determinants of steroid hormone variability: the HERITAGE Family Study. Eur J Endocrinol 2001; 145: 1-9
• 23 Vasan RS, Larson MG, Leip EP, Evans JC, O'Donnell CJ, Kannel WB, Levy D. Impact of high-normal blood pressure on the risk of cardiovascular disease. N Engl J Med 2001; 345: 1291-1297
• 24 Wilmore JH, Stanforth PR, Gagnon J, Rice T, Mandel S, Leon AS, Rao DC, Skinner JS, Bouchard C. Heart rate and blood pressure changes with endurance training: the HERITAGE Family Study. Med Sci Sports Exerc 2001; 33: 107-116