NCT05808686

Ischemic Conditioning to Promote Microvascular Resiliency in Frail Individuals

• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: Phase 2
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 60 (estimated)
• Sponsor: Medical College of Wisconsin · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 65 Years – 85 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to see how small blood vessels respond to the stress of high intensity exercise, and if a safe and simple intervention called ischemic conditioning can protect blood vessels from the stress of exercise. Participants will come in for 3 study visits and get home-based ischemic conditioning. At Study Visit 1, participants will be assessed for their frailty and physical function. Afterwards, they will perform an exercise test. At Study Visit 2, patients will undergo 2 microvascular assessments, perform a high-intensity exercise, then undergo the same 2 microvascular assessments again. Participants will be given a handheld sphygmomanometer and a blood pressure cuff to take home. Depending on which group the participants get randomized into, participants will place the blood pressure cuff around their non-dominant upper arm and inflate to either a low or high pressure for 2 weeks at home. Participants will repeat the same steps in Study Visit 2 for Study Visit 3. In addition, participants will also be assessed for their frailty and physical function.

Detailed description

In elderly individuals the small blood vessels that regulate blood flow to organs and other tissues can become damaged when they are exposed to stress, which can lead to complications following stressful events like surgery. In this study we will examine how these blood vessels respond to the stress of high intensity exercise, and if a safe and simple intervention called ischemic conditioning can increase resiliency of these vessels. Our previous work showed that conditioned athletes are protected from the stress of a single, high intensity exercise bout whereas non-athletes are not. Others have shown that elderly individuals have reduced large artery function following the high intensity exercise. This study will be the first to examine how the small blood vessels respond to this stress in the elderly. Participants will be asked to come in for 3 study visits. Study Visit 1 1. Complete assessments on frailty and physical function 2. Complete an exercise test using either a total body recumbent stepper or a bicycle and pedal in a seated position Study Visit 2 1. Undergo a blood draw to measure plasma sphingolipids 2. Have a CytoCam device take images of small vessels inside their mouth 3. Be assessed by the Laser Doppler Flowmeter while small doses of a vasodilator called acetylcholine are infused into the skin and the local temperature increases 4. Complete a high-intensity interval exercise on a bicycle or an elliptical machine 5. Have a CytoCam device take images of small vessels inside their mouth 6. Be assessed by the Laser Doppler Flowmeter while small doses of a vasodilator called acetylcholine are infused into the skin and the local temperature increases Home-based Ischemic Conditioning 1. Get a handheld sphygmomanometer and a blood pressure cuff to take home. 2. Depending on which group the participants get randomized into, participants will place blood pressure cuff around non-dominant upper arm and inflate to either a low or high pressure. 3. This intervention will be completed 5 times a day for 2 weeks Visit 3 1. Undergo a blood draw to measure plasma sphingolipids 2. Have a CytoCam device take images of small vessels inside their mouth 3. Be assessed by the Laser Doppler Flowmeter while small doses of a vasodilator called acetylcholine are infused into the skin and the local temperature increases 4. Complete assessments on frailty and physical function 5. Complete an exercise test using either a total body recumbent stepper or a bicycle and pedal in a seated position 6. Complete a high-intensity interval exercise on a bicycle or an elliptical machine 7. Have a CytoCam device take images of small vessels inside their mouth 8. Be assessed by the Laser Doppler Flowmeter while small doses of a vasodilator called acetylcholine are infused into the skin and the local temperature increases

Conditions

• Aging
• Fragility
• Endothelial Dysfunction

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Ischemic Conditioning	We will use a randomized block design to randomize individuals into either Ischemic Conditioning-Low or Ischemic Conditioning-High group using an online randomizer. A handheld sphygmomanometer and blood pressure cuff will be given to study participants. For the Ischemic Conditioning-High group participants, while sitting, the cuff will be placed around the non-dominant upper arm and inflated to 225 mmHg for 5 min, then released for a 5-min recovery period. A 5-min inflation period is most used. Five cycles of inflation/recovery will be performed. For the Ischemic Conditioning-Low group participants, the cuff will be inflated to 10 mmHg instead. All participants will perform the intervention daily for 2 weeks. Participants will complete daily log sheets documenting the time and pressure of each cuff inflation.

Timeline

• Start date: 2023-05-02
• Primary completion: 2028-12-01
• Completion: 2029-12-01
• First posted: 2023-04-11
• Last updated: 2025-09-23

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States