Oral Contraceptive Use, Muscle Sympathetic Nerve Activity, and Systemic Hemodynamics in Young Women.

ABSTRACT: Endogenous female sex hormones influence muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA), a regulator of arterial blood pressure and important factor in hypertension development. Although ≈80% of American women report using hormonal contraceptives sometime during their life, the influence of combined oral contraceptives (OCs) on MSNA and systemic hemodynamics remains equivocal. The goal of this study was to determine whether women taking OCs have altered MSNA and hemodynamics (cardiac output and total peripheral resistance) at rest during the placebo phase of OC use compared with women with natural menstrual cycles during the early follicular phase. We retrospectively analyzed data from studies in which healthy, premenopausal women (aged 18-35 years) participated. We collected MSNA values at rest

SUBMITTER: Harvey RE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4537364 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature