Sympathetic Neural Regulation of Blood Pressure: Influences of Sex and Aging

E. C. J. Hart , N. Charkoudian PhysiologyPublished 1 January 2014Vol. 29no. 8-15DOI: 10.1152/physiol.00031.2013 In this review, they discussed how the things we study, particularly splanchnic sympathetic nerve activity, is reflected in humans (via microneurography measures of muscle sympathetic nerve activity) and how nerve activity changes with age. Apparently, MSNA is a good measure of peripheral resistance, but not a good measure of blood pressure since SNA doesn’t correlate well with blood pressure until people are in their forties or fifties. However, it is inversely related to cardiac output in young men but not in women unless the young women are using beta blockers. Old women are more like old men, suggesting that there may be a gender-linked change in the activity or effect of beta-adrenergic receptors. -DH