Cardiovascular responses to water ingestion at rest and during isometric handgrip exercise

Water drinking activates sympathetic vasoconstriction in healthy young adults; however, this is not accompanied by a concomitant increase in resting blood pressure. It is not known whether the water pressor effect is unmasked by a physiological condition such as exercise. Therefore, we examined the effect of water ingestion (50 vs. 500 mL) on the cardiovascular and autonomic responses to isometric handgrip in 17 healthy participants (9 men, 8 women, aged 28.4 ± 9.7 years). Beat-to-beat blood pressure and R–R intervals were recorded in both conditions at rest (pre- and post-ingestion) and during handgrip at 30% of maximal voluntary contraction. R–R series were spectrally decomposed using an autoregressive approach. Water ingestion did not interact with the increase in mean arterial pressure (MAP) from rest to exercise, which was similar between conditions. In contrast, there was an overall bradycardic effect of water and this was accompanied by increased high frequency power (condition main effect, p < 0.05). When the differences in high frequency power between conditions were controlled for, MAP was significantly higher after drinking 500 mL of water (condition main effect, p < 0.05). In addition, water ingestion attenuated the increase in the low to high frequency power ratio from rest to handgrip (interaction effect, p < 0.05). In conclusion, the rise in blood pressure post-water ingestion is prevented both at rest and during isometric handgrip. Interestingly, this is not sustained after controlling for the enhanced vagal drive caused by water ingestion. Therefore, the mechanisms underlying this response most likely depend on reflex bradycardia of vagal origin.