Effects of Maximal Exercise on Central and Peripheral Arterial Stiffness in Adults with and without Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.

Adults with Down-Syndrome seem to be protected from early aging-associated increases in arterial stiffness and to present blunted responses to maximal aerobic exercise in comparison to age-matched controls, possibly underlying diminished vascular reserve. However, whether these arterial stiffness responses apply to adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) in general remains unknown. We compared central and peripheral arterial stiffness response patterns between persons with and without IDD of different age groups following maximal aerobic exercise. We hypothesized that adults with IDD would show an attenuated arterial stiffness response to maximal aerobic exercise in comparison to young and middle-aged adults without IDD. Thirty young adults with (n=15, age= 30 ± 7 years) and without (n=15, age= 27 ± 7 years) IDD, and 15 middle-aged adults (age= 51 ± 4 years) without IDD performed a bout of maximal aerobic exercise. Central and peripheral arterial stiffness were measured at rest and following maximal aerobic exercise using applanation tonometry estimates of carotid-femoral (cfPWV), carotid-distal (cdPWV), and carotid-radial (crPWV) pulse wave velocity, respectively. cfPWV was unchanged following maximal aerobic exercise in young adults with and without IDD (figure) but increased in middle-aged adults (d= 0.85; 95% CI: 0.27 to 1.42 m.s , p= 0.005), whereas cdPWV was reduced (d= -0.77; 95% CI: -1.06 to -0.48 m.s , p< 0.001) and crPWV unchanged in all three groups, independent of changes in mean arterial pressure. Overall group differences suggest that young adults with (d= -1.78; 95% CI: -3.20 to -0.37 m.s , p= 0.009) and without(d= -1.84; 95% CI: -3.26 to -0.43 m.s , p= 0.007) IDD had lower cfPWV than middle-aged adults. We found no evidence of early vascular aging and or a diminished vascular reserve following maximal aerobic exercise in adults with IDD.