Preserved ability to blunt sympathetically‐mediated vasoconstriction in exercising skeletal muscle of young obese humans

Sympathetic vasoconstriction is attenuated in exercising muscles to assist in matching of blood flow with metabolic demand. This “functional sympatholysis” may be impaired in young obese individuals due to greater sympathetic activation and/or reduced local vasodilatory capacity of both small and large arteries, but this remains poorly understood. We tested the hypothesis that functional sympatholysis is impaired in obese individuals compared with normal‐weight counterparts. In 36 obese and normal‐weight young healthy adults (n = 18/group), we measured forearm blood flow and calculated forearm vascular conductance (FVC) responses to reflex increases in sympathetic nerve activity induced by lower body negative pressure (LBNP) at rest and during rhythmic handgrip exercise at 15% and 30% of the maximal voluntary contraction (MVC). FVC was normalized to lean forearm mass. In normal‐weight individuals, LBNP evoked a decrease in FVC (−16.1 ± 5.7%) in the resting forearm, and the reduction in FVC (15%MVC: −8.1 ± 3.3%; 30%MVC: −1.0 ± 4.0%) was blunted during exercise in an intensity‐dependent manner (P < 0.05). Similarly, in obese individuals, LBNP evoked a comparable decrease in FVC (−10.9 ± 5.7%) in the resting forearm, with the reduction in FVC (15%MVC: −9.7 ± 3.3%; 30%MVC: −0.3 ± 4.0%) also blunted during exercise in an intensity‐dependent manner (P < 0.05). The magnitude of sympatholysis was similar between groups (P > 0.05) and was intensity‐dependent (P < 0.05). Our findings suggest that functional sympatholysis is not impaired in young obese individuals without overt cardiovascular diseases.