Authors
Shuhei Murase, Naoyoshi Sakitani, Takahiro Maekawa, Daisuke Yoshino, Kouji Takano, Ayumu Konno, Hirokazu Hirai, Taku Saito, Sakae Tanaka, Keisuke Shinohara, Takuya Kishi, Yuki Yoshikawa, Takamasa Sakai, Makoto Ayaori, Hirohiko Inanami, Koji Tomiyasu, Atsushi Takashima, Toru Ogata, Hirotsugu Tsuchimochi, Shinya Sato, Shigeyoshi Saito, Kohzoh Yoshino, Yuiko Matsuura, Kenichi Funamoto, Hiroki Ochi, Masahiro Shinohara, Motoshi Nagao & Yasuhiro Sawada
Abstract
The mechanisms by which physical exercise benefits brain functions are not fully understood. Here, we show that vertically oscillating head motions mimicking mechanical accelerations experienced during fast walking, light jogging or treadmill running at a moderate velocity reduce the blood pressure of rats and human adults with hypertension. In hypertensive rats, shear stresses of less than 1 Pa resulting from interstitial-fluid flow induced by such passive head motions reduced the expression of the angiotensin II type-1 receptor in astrocytes in the rostral ventrolateral medulla, and the resulting antihypertensive effects were abrogated by hydrogel introduction that inhibited interstitial-fluid movement in the medulla. Our findings suggest that oscillatory mechanical interventions could be used to elicit antihypertensive effects.
Nature Biomedical Engineering: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41551-023-01061-x
