Sex differences in lower-limb arterial stiffness following acute aerobic exercise

Objectives: This study was to investigate sex differences in central and peripheral arterial stiffness after exercise in young adults. Methods: Sixty-one young adults (32 males, 29 females; age 18–35 years) performed an acute bout of aerobic exercise at 70% of heart rate reserve. The carotid-femoral, carotid-radial, and femoral-ankle pulse wave velocity, and carotid and femoral artery diameters, were measured before exercise and 30- and 60-min after exercise using applanation tonometry (Millar Instruments, Houston, TX, USA) and SphygmoCor (AtCor Medical, Sydney, Australia). Results: The sex-by-time interactions were not significant for the carotid-femoral and carotid-radial pulse wave velocity, but were significant for the femoral-ankle pulse wave velocity (P = 0.03). There were also significant sex-by-time interactions for the relative diameter changes in the femoral artery (P = 0.043), but not in the carotid artery. The change in femoral-ankle pulse wave velocity from pre-exercise to 60-min post-exercise was significantly positively correlated with leg lean soft tissue mass in males (P = 0.01, R = 0.45), but not in females. Conclusion: Our study shows that the effect of acute aerobic exercise on lower-limb arterial stiffness varies between the sexes, with greater reductions in arterial stiffness in young males than in females.