Impact of a cardiopulmonary exercise testing on central hemodynamic parameters of adults who had mild to moderate COVID-19

• Grant number: 24/08454-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: August 01, 2024
• End date: May 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Physiology - General Physiology
• Principal Investigator: Guilherme Borges Pereira
• Grantee: Fernanda Rico Angelotto
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde (CCBS). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Stress induced by physical exercise is associated with physiological, cellular, psychological, and neuroendocrine changes that begin at the start of exercise and persist for moments after the session. Heart rate and stroke volume increase to meet the metabolic demand of active muscles, also adjusting blood pressure. Therefore, collecting central hemodynamic data is essential to assess structural and functional vascular changes. These parameters can be influenced by inflammatory conditions such as COVID-19, which causes cardiovascular, respiratory, autonomic, mental, and musculoskeletal symptoms months after infection. Investigating central hemodynamics in patients who have had COVID-19 may reveal important insights into the cardiovascular response to exercise stress and the residual impact of the infection. This study proposes to evaluate how the central hemodynamics of adults who had mild to moderate COVID-19 are affected immediately and up to 24 hours after a cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET). We hypothesize that the central hemodynamic parameters of these individuals show changes immediately after the test and in subsequent periods, returning to pre-test levels within 24 hours. For the study, participants will make three visits to the laboratory, one of which will be dedicated to carrying out the CPET protocol. The variables to be analyzed include heart rate (HR), pulse wave velocity (PWV), cardiac output (CO), augmentation index (AIX), reflection coefficient, central systolic pressure (cSP), central pulse pressure (cPP), total vascular resistance (TVR), peripheral vascular resistance (PVR), and VO2MAX, at baseline, pre-test, immediately after the test, and 10, 30, and 60 minutes after the test. For the analysis of the results, analysis of variance (ANOVA) will be used for parametric data and non-parametric tests for free distribution data. Data with a significance of 95% or more (p < 0.05) will be considered statistically relevant. Statistical analyses will be performed using GraphPad Prism and/or SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) software.