Acute effects of dynamic exercise and nutritional supplementation on blood pressure in mildly hypertensive patients.

Purpose: Previous studies have demonstrated that both exercise and the consumption of L-arginine can reduce blood pressure, presumably by the common pathway of nitric oxidemediated vasodilation. This study compared the effects of exercise and L-arginine supplementation and their combination on BP in mildly hypertensive patients.Method: Nine patients with mild hypertension performed 4 randomly ordered trials consisting of combinations of the consumption of either double-blind administration of a nutritional supplement containing L-arginine, vitamin E, and vitamin C, or an otherwise identical placebo either with or without a 25min bout of aerobic exercise. BP was measured at baseline and every 30 min for 2 hr. The nutritional supplement was provided following the baseline BP measurement. In exercise trials, 25 min of cycle ergometry were performed following the 30-min BP measurement.Results: There were no significant BP changes in the placebo + rest condition. For all three interventions (nutritional, exercise, nutritional + exercise) there was a significant (p < 0.05) decrease in systolic BP at 90 min (-13, -14, -13 mmHg) and 120 min (-13, -11, -13 mmHg). Diastolic BP decreased significantly at both 90 min and 120 min (-9 mmHg for both) in the combined intervention condition (nutritional + exercise). Mean arterial pressure was decreased at 90 min for all three intervention conditions (-8, -7, -9 mmHg). However, the only significant decrease in mean arterial pressure at 120 min was in the combined intervention condition (-9 mmHg).Conclusion: On the basis of the outcome data at 120 min, it was concluded that the combination of exercise + nutritional supplementation with L-arginine, vitamin E, and vitamin C produce short-term reductions in BP that are significantly greater than no treatment or either intervention alone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]