Abstract
Objective
This study aims to evaluate the effects of systemic sympathetic activation induced by acute strenuous exercise on nasal passage volume using acoustic rhinometry (AR) in young females, and to examine the emerging regional response within the context of cardiovascular sympathetic reactivity.
Material and Methods
To control the potential effects of age- and sex-related autonomic variations, 23 healthy young female students were enrolled in the study. Sympathetic activation was induced via a treadmill exercise protocol, requiring participants to run for 5 minutes at an intensity that doubled their resting heart rate. Systemic blood pressure, heart rate, and nasal passage volumes via AR were measured before exercise and immediately post-exercise. At 20 minutes post-exercise, nasal measurements were repeated.
Results
Prior to exercise, no statistically significant difference was found between the right and left nasal passage volumes (p>0.05). Following exercise, a significant increase in both nasal passage volumes was observed as a result of sympathetic activation-associated decongestion (p<0.05). The increase in nasal volume on the right side was significantly greater than that on the left (p<0.05). In repeated measurements performed 20 minutes after exercise, the right nasal passage volume remained significantly higher than the left (p<0.05).
Conclusion
This study demonstrates that an asymmetric regional response in favor of the right side occurs in nasal passage volume after acute exercise. This finding suggests that systemic sympathetic activation may induce a response characterized by regional variations in the nasal passage. Therefore, it is considered that nasal passage volume measurements performed with AR, which is a non-invasive and objective method, could be an indirect and potential method for evaluating peripheral responses accompanying sympathetic reactivity in cardiological research.
Keywords:
Acoustic rhinometry, acute exercise, nasal reactivity, cardiovascular sympathetic reactivity, functional asymmetry
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