Effect of serial arm ischemic preconditioning sessions on the systemic blood pressure of a normotensive subject

Remote ischemic preconditioning (RIPC) consists of repeated 5′ periods of blood pressure (BP) cuff inflations applied to the upper arms at pressures above the systolic blood pressure (SBP), interspersed with 5′ periods of reperfusion have been shown to benefit the ischemic and infarcted myocardium in animal experiments, and human clinical experience. Serial sessions of RIPC, as described, were applied to the arms of a normotensive subject. RIPC resulted in a statistically significant mean drop of the SBP by >6 mm Hg, of the diastolic BP by >3 mm Hg, and of the pulse pressure by 3 mm Hg, 30′ after RIPC, with some evidence for a delayed effect in the ensuing days following RIPC. RIPC exerts an immediate BP lowering effect and possibly has a prolonged delayed such influence on BP. This newly described herein phenomenon needs to be corroborated and explored for its potential value in the physiology of BP regulation and the pathophysiology and therapy of hypertension.