Anger inhibition potentiates the association of high end-tidal CO2 with blood pressure in women

Objective: High resting end-tidal CO2 (PetCO(2)) has been shown to be an in dependent predictor of systolic blood pressure (SBP) in women, particularly older women. The study reported in this article investigated whether the t endency to experience, express, and/or suppress anger contributes to the as sociation of PetCO(2) and SEP in women and in men. Methods: The Spielberger Anger Expression Inventory was administered to 403 healthy male and female participants in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study on Aging. Resting PetCO(2 ) was obtained by means of a respiratory gas monitor, and resting blood pre ssure was obtained with an oscillometric device. The associations of restin g PetCO(2) and the anger scales with SEP and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) were investigated using multivariate regression analyses. Results: PetCO(2 ), as well as age and body mass index, was an independent predictor of SEP in women with low, but not high, trait anger and in women with low, but not high, anger-out. PetCO(2) was not an independent predictor of SEP in men w ith either high or low anger. In addition, PetCO(2) was not an independent predictor of DBP in either men or women. Conclusions: The results of this s tudy indicate that inhibition of anger potentiates the relationship of high PetCO(2) with SEP in women but not men. Additional studies are needed to d etermine the origins of the observed gender differences and the psychophysi ological pathways by which high resting PetCO(2) contributes to elevated re sting blood pressure in women.