Abstract:
Objective To determine the effects of aerobic exercise on the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems in hypertensive patients, and to compare and analyze the effects of intermittent and continuous aerobic exercise on the autonomic function of hypertensive patients, in order to explore a more suitable exercise mode for hypertensive patients to practice.
Methods Databases such as Web of science, PubMed, Embase, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) were searched to collect randomized controlled trials evaluating the intervention ettect of aerobic exercise (intermittent and continuous) on the autonomic nervous system (sympathetic and parasympathetic) in patients with hypertension. The methodological quality of the included literature was evaluated using the Cochrane evaluation tool and the Jadad scale. Statistical and sensitivity analyses were performed using Revman software, and Stata software was used for net analysis and assessment of publication bias.
Results A total of 17 studies with 880 hypertensive patients were included. Meta analysis showed that aerobic exercise was effective in reducing systolic blood pressure weighed mean difference (WMD)=10.22 (95%CI 6.38–14.05) mmHg, diastolic blood pressure WMD=6.13 (95%CI 4.45–7.81) mmHg, mean blood pressure WMD=3.80 (95%CI 1.29–6.31) mmHg, and heart rate WMD=3.40 (95%CI 0.94–5.85) beats/min, improved blood pressure variability, including 24-hour WMD=1.85% (95%CI 0.38%–3.31%), daytime WMD=1.46% (95%CI 0.98%–1.94%), and nocturnal WMD=0.48% (95%CI 0.10%–0.85%) diastolic blood pressure variability. The effect of aerobic exercise on the autonomic nervous system showed selective, and the effects on the sympathetic nervous systems was ignificant, including low-frequency power WMD=0.50 (95%CI 0.02–0.98) ms2 and normalized low-frequency power studies WMD=0.15 (95%CI 0.08–0.22), and the effect on the parasympathetic nervous system was not significant, including high-frequency power, normalized high-frequency power, root mean square of successive differences of RR intervals (RMSSD) and percentage of NN intervals with differences greater than 50 ms (pNN50). The network analysis showed that intermittent aerobic exercise was superior to continuous aerobic exercise in reducing the heart rate and improving low-frequency power and SDNN (P<0.05).
Conclusion Aerobic exercise mainly targets the sympathetic nervous system in the regulation of autonomic nervous system in hypertensive patients. Among them, intermittent aerobic exercise has a more significant effect on regulating the sympathetic nervous system and improving heart rate, providing a more targeted solution for exercise intervention in hypertension.