Neurovascular responses to reflex cooling in essential hypertensive humans (IRB# 43666)
Principal Investigator: Lacy Alexander, Ph.D., The Pennsylvania State University, 113 Noll Lab University Park, PA
The link below takes you to a questionnaire that you may use to send us information about yourself. Alternatively, you may contact us directly: Susan Slimak at sks31@psu.edu or Rebecca Bruning at rsb227@psu.edu or call 814-863-8556.
Sign up to be part of this research study!
General Study Description
We are examining the effects of whole-body cooling on blood pressure, nervous system activity, and vascular function in adults with normal blood pressure and also in those with hypertension. If you are interested in participating, you would be required to come to Noll Lab for up to 8 experimental visits. These visits include up to three screening visits (including several blood pressure measurements and a blood test to check your blood and blood chemistry) and up to five experimental visits. The experiments for this study use several research techniques, including microneurography and microdialysis. These experiments also use whole-body cooling with a water-perfused suit.
Microneurography allows us to directly record activity from your sympathetic nervous system. It involves placing a very small microelectrode, similar to an acupuncture needle, into one of the nerves close to the surface of your skin on your lower leg. Microdialysis allows us to locally deliver a small amount of drugs (including amino acids which are building blocks of proteins) directly to your skin’s blood vessels in an area of skin about the size of a nickel. We place a very thin tube about 6x the diameter of a human hair between the superficial layers of skin in your forearm. We do this using aseptic technique and a small needle (smaller than the needle that they use when drawing blood from your arm). During the experiments we will also heat a localized area of skin about the size of a pencil eraser.
Eligibility Criteria
- Men and Women
- Ages 18-75 years
- Non-smoker
- No drugs that may alter the function of blood vessels (e.g. heart, blood pressure, and/or cholesterol medications)
- No illegal / recreational drugs
Women
- Not pregnant or breastfeeding
- No hormone replacement therapy
- Not taking birth control pills, or using patches, shots, or rings
Number of Visits/Time Commitment
You would be required to come to Noll Lab for a total of 8 visits. The first visits are for medical screening procedures that last a total of 1.5 hours. The experimental visits last no longer than 6 hours.
Compensation
Compensation will be provided. We reimburse for gasoline if you live more than 20 miles from our lab.
Sign up!
The link below takes you to a questionnaire that you can use to send us information about yourself. Alternatively, you may contact us directly: Please contact Susan Slimak at sks31@psu.edu or Rebecca Bruning at rsb227@psu.edu or call 814-863-8556.
Sign up to be part of this research study!
Questions?
Please contact Susan Slimak at sks31@psu.edu or Rebecca Bruning at rsb227@psu.edu or call 814-863-8556.
This study has been approved by the Institutional Review Board of the Pennsylvania State University.