Cardiovascular responses to rhythmic handgrip exercise in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction

Abstract

The current study identified, for the first time, an attenuation in exercising muscle blood flow during handgrip exercise in individuals with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) compared with overweight individuals with hypertension, two of the most common comorbidities associated with HFpEF. These decrements in exercise hyperemia cannot be attributed to disease-related changes in central hemodynamics or endothelial function, providing additional evidence for disease-related vascular dysregulation, which may be a predominant contributor to exercise intolerance in individuals with HFpEF.