Novel Interventions to Improve Cerebral and Peripheral Vascular Function
type: CreativeWork
description: Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are major causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Complications associated with CVD encompass the entire vascular system, including blood vessels that supply brain. Impairments to cerebral blood flow (CBF) and cerebrovascular function result in increased risk of cognitive impairment, vascular dementia and stroke. Identifying interventions that can attenuate the age-related decline in CBF and enhance cerebrovascular function are essential, especially in individuals at high risk of CVD. Remote ischaemic preconditioning (rIPC), which involves cyclical periods of ischaemia-reperfusion applied noninvasively to a limb, has been shown to improve measures of peripheral vascular function and cardiovascular endpoints when applied acutely (one episode) or repeatedly (e.g. daily, 3 times per week). There is also emerging evidence that repeated rIPC elicits beneficial effects within the cerebral circulation in stroke patients. However, the mechanisms of how rIPC can improve cerebrovascular function are unknown. The overreaching aim of this thesis was to investigate whether acute and repeated rIPC could enhance cerebral and peripheral vascular function in cohorts with increased risk of CVD. In a crossover study design, Study 1 aimed to assess the impact of a single acute bout of rIPC on cerebrovascular function. Eleven young healthy (28±4 years) and nine individuals at risk of CVD (53±7 years) underwent assessment of cerebrovascular function. Using Transcranial Doppler (TCD), markers of cerebrovascular function were assessed following either bilateral arm rIPC or sham condition. There was no change in middle cerebral artery velocity (MCAv) or blood pressure (BP) during rIPC. Application of rIPC did not alter cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) compared to sham (0.002 MCACVC/mmHg, 95%CI= -0.001, 0.005, P=0.24), nor did it affect any parameter of dynamic cerebral autoregulation (dCA) (0.028 normalised gain%/mmHg-1, 95%CI= -0.080, 0.137, P=0.59). This…
abstract: Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are major causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Complications associated with CVD encompass the entire vascular system, including blood vessels that supply brain. Impairments to cerebral blood flow (CBF) and cerebrovascular function result in increased risk of cognitive impairment, vascular dementia and stroke. Identifying interventions that can attenuate the age-related decline in CBF and enhance cerebrovascular function are essential, especially in individuals at high risk of CVD. Remote ischaemic preconditioning (rIPC), which involves cyclical periods of ischaemia-reperfusion applied noninvasively to a limb, has been shown to improve measures of peripheral vascular function and cardiovascular endpoints when applied acutely (one episode) or repeatedly (e.g. daily, 3 times per week). There is also emerging evidence that repeated rIPC elicits beneficial effects within the cerebral circulation in stroke patients. However, the mechanisms of how rIPC can improve cerebrovascular function are unknown. The overreaching aim of this thesis was to investigate whether acute and repeated rIPC could enhance cerebral and peripheral vascular function in cohorts with increased risk of CVD. In a crossover study design, Study 1 aimed to assess the impact of a single acute bout of rIPC on cerebrovascular function. Eleven young healthy (28±4 years) and nine individuals at risk of CVD (53±7 years) underwent assessment of cerebrovascular function. Using Transcranial Doppler (TCD), markers of cerebrovascular function were assessed following either bilateral arm rIPC or sham condition. There was no change in middle cerebral artery velocity (MCAv) or blood pressure (BP) during rIPC. Application of rIPC did not alter cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) compared to sham (0.002 MCACVC/mmHg, 95%CI= -0.001, 0.005, P=0.24), nor did it affect any parameter of dynamic cerebral autoregulation (dCA) (0.028 normalised gain%/mmHg-1, 95%CI= -0.080, 0.137, P=0.59). This…
author: Maxwell, J
keywords: RC0321 Neuroscience. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry, RC1200 Sports Medicine
date published: 2020-05
date modified: 2026-07-24T06:30:31Z
provider: Liverpool Jon Moores University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Liverpool John Moores University

PropertyValue
property ID: DOI
value: 10.24377/LJMU.t.00012844