An Adaptation of Central and Peripheral Cardiovascular Exercise Responses in Children as a Determinant of Microvascular Function

The vascular endothelium has an influence on the progression of atherosclerosis via anticoagulant, anti-inflammatory, and vascular remodelling properties (Ross, 1999). Studies have indicated that subjects with cardiovascular disease or risk factors for cardiovascular disease may exhibit impaired endothelium-dependent vasomotor responses (Al Suwaidi et al., 2001) and attenuated vascular nitric oxide (NO) activity. The relevance of endothelial dysfunction has been highlighted by many studies indicating that endothelial dysfunction is an independent predictor of cardiac events (Vita and Keaney, 2002). Regular physical exercise is believed to improve endothelium-dependent vasodilation in a number of populations (Walsh et al., 2003) including those of heart failure (Maiorana et al., 2000), type 2 diabetes (Middlebrooke et al., 2005) and hypertension (Higashi et al., 1999).