Baroreflex Sensitivity and Exercise Training: From Molecular Mechanisms to Cardiovascular Therapeutics

Maintaining stable blood pressure is essential for normal physiological function, and the baroreceptor reflex plays a pivotal role in buffering acute blood pressure variability. Reduced baroreflex sensitivity (BRS) is closely linked to the development and progression of multiple pathological processes. Moreover, enhancing BRS has been identified as a promising therapeutic approach for cardiovascular diseases. Both observational and interventional research consistently demonstrate that long-term aerobic exercise training is associated with elevated BRS, regardless of the presence of pre-existing cardiovascular diseases. Additionally, anaerobic exercise and other exercise modalities offer varying degrees of benefits across different populations. Given the well-established therapeutic effects of exercise in various cardiovascular diseases, elucidating the underlying mechanisms is of significant importance. In this review, we integrate recent findings from human and animal studies, which propose that potential mechanisms may involve exercise-induced secretion of bioactive molecules and modulation of the autonomic nervous system. This review systematically summarizes the advances in the regulation of BRS by exercise, elucidates the underlying mechanisms whereby exercise maintains blood pressure homeostasis and protects cardiovascular function, and thus provides a critical theoretical foundation for employing exercise as an interventional strategy in the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases.