Chronic treadmill running in normotensive rats resets the resting blood pressure to lower levels by upregulating the hypothalamic GABAergic system

Abstract

Chronic treadmill running in normotensive rats augmented the GABAergic system in both paraventricular nucleus and posterior hypothalamic area, resulting in lower resting blood pressure, heart rate and sympathetic tone under conscious unrestraint conditions. This study provides insight into mechanisms important for explaining how chronic exercise resets the resting blood pressure.