Kazuki Hotta1, Wayne B Batchelor2, James Graven3, Vishal Dahya4, Thomas E Noel5, Akash Ghai5, John N Katopodis5, William C Dixon5, Rebecca Andrews5, Aimee Pragle6, Jegghna Chheda7, Lia Liberatore7, Brad J Behnke8, Judy Muller-Delp9. 1. Department of Biomedical Sciences, Florida State University College of Medicine, Tallahassee, FL, USA; Department of Physical Therapy, Niigata University of Health and Welfare, Niigata, Japan. 2. Inova Heart and Vascular Institute, Falls Church, VA, USA. 3. Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare, Tallahassee, FL, USA. 4. Summa Health Medical Group, Akron, OH, USA. 5. Southern Medical Group, P.A., Tallahassee, FL, USA. 6. Florida State University College of Medicine, Tallahassee, FL, USA. 7. Department of Nutrition, Food and Exercise Sciences, Florida State University College of Human Sciences, Tallahassee, FL, USA. 8. Department of Kinesiology, Kansas State University College of Human Ecology, Manhattan, KS, USA. 9. Department of Biomedical Sciences, Florida State University College of Medicine, Tallahassee, FL, USA. Electronic address: judy.delp@med.fsu.edu.
Abstract
BACKGROUND:Patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD) often have walking impairment due to insufficient oxygen supply to skeletal muscle. In aged rats, we have shown that daily stretching of calf muscles improves endothelium-dependent dilation of arterioles from the soleus muscle and increases capillarity and muscle blood flow during exercise. Therefore, we hypothesized that daily muscle stretching of calf muscles would improve endothelium-dependent vasodilation of the popliteal artery and walking function in PAD patients. METHODS: We performed a randomized, non-blinded, crossover study whereby 13 patients with stable symptomatic PAD were randomized to undergo either 4 weeks of passive calf muscle stretching (ankle dorsiflexion applied 30 min/d, 5 days/wk) followed by 4 weeks of no muscle stretching and vice versa. Endothelium-dependent flow-mediated dilation (FMD) and endothelium-independent nitroglycerin-induced dilation of the popliteal artery and 6 minute walk test (6MWT) were evaluated at baseline and after each 4 week interval. RESULTS: After 4 weeks of muscle stretching, FMD and 6MWT improved significantly in the muscle stretching group vs. the control (FMD: 5.1 ± 0.5% vs. 3.7 ± 0.3%, P = 0.005; 6MWT continuous walking distance: 304 ± 43 m vs. 182 ± 34 m; P = 0.0006). No difference in nitroglycerin-induced dilation was found between groups (10.9 ± 1.2 vs. 9.9 ± 0.4%, P = 0.48). Post-stretching, 6MWT total walking distance was positively correlated with normalized FMD (R = 0.645, P = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS:Passive calf muscle stretching enhanced vascular endothelial function and improved walking function in elderly patients with stable symptomatic PAD. These findings merit further investigation in a prospective randomized trial.
RCT Entities:
BACKGROUND:Patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD) often have walking impairment due to insufficient oxygen supply to skeletal muscle. In aged rats, we have shown that daily stretching of calf muscles improves endothelium-dependent dilation of arterioles from the soleus muscle and increases capillarity and muscle blood flow during exercise. Therefore, we hypothesized that daily muscle stretching of calf muscles would improve endothelium-dependent vasodilation of the popliteal artery and walking function in PAD patients. METHODS: We performed a randomized, non-blinded, crossover study whereby 13 patients with stable symptomatic PAD were randomized to undergo either 4 weeks of passive calf muscle stretching (ankle dorsiflexion applied 30 min/d, 5 days/wk) followed by 4 weeks of no muscle stretching and vice versa. Endothelium-dependent flow-mediated dilation (FMD) and endothelium-independent nitroglycerin-induced dilation of the popliteal artery and 6 minute walk test (6MWT) were evaluated at baseline and after each 4 week interval. RESULTS: After 4 weeks of muscle stretching, FMD and 6MWT improved significantly in the muscle stretching group vs. the control (FMD: 5.1 ± 0.5% vs. 3.7 ± 0.3%, P = 0.005; 6MWT continuous walking distance: 304 ± 43 m vs. 182 ± 34 m; P = 0.0006). No difference in nitroglycerin-induced dilation was found between groups (10.9 ± 1.2 vs. 9.9 ± 0.4%, P = 0.48). Post-stretching, 6MWT total walking distance was positively correlated with normalized FMD (R = 0.645, P = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: Passive calf muscle stretching enhanced vascular endothelial function and improved walking function in elderly patients with stable symptomatic PAD. These findings merit further investigation in a prospective randomized trial.
Authors: A W Gardner; L I Katzel; J D Sorkin; D D Bradham; M C Hochberg; W R Flinn; A P Goldberg Journal: J Am Geriatr Soc Date: 2001-06 Impact factor: 5.562
Authors: M M McDermott; P Greenland; K Liu; J M Guralnik; M H Criqui; N C Dolan; C Chan; L Celic; W H Pearce; J R Schneider; L Sharma; E Clark; D Gibson; G J Martin Journal: JAMA Date: 2001-10-03 Impact factor: 56.272
Authors: Mary McGrae McDermott; Kiang Liu; Philip Greenland; Jack M Guralnik; Michael H Criqui; Cheeling Chan; William H Pearce; Joseph R Schneider; Luigi Ferrucci; Lillian Celic; Lloyd M Taylor; Ed Vonesh; Gary J Martin; Elizabeth Clark Journal: JAMA Date: 2004-07-28 Impact factor: 56.272
Authors: Mary McGrae McDermott; Philip Greenland; Kiang Liu; Jack M Guralnik; Lillian Celic; Michael H Criqui; Cheeling Chan; Gary J Martin; Joseph Schneider; William H Pearce; Lloyd M Taylor; Elizabeth Clark Journal: Ann Intern Med Date: 2002-06-18 Impact factor: 25.391