ArticleAmerican journal of physiology. Heart and circulatory physiology2016
Prolonged sitting-induced leg endothelial dysfunction is prevented by fidgeting.
Article in American journal of physiology. Heart and circulatory physiology, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 79 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
79 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 162 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effects of breaking up prolonged sitting on vascular endothelial function in adults: a systematic review.Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine · 2026Pooled it
- Sedentary behavior and risk of chronic kidney disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis.International urology and nephrology · 2025Pooled it
- Effect of Exercise Prior to Sedentary Behavior on Vascular Health Parameters: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Crossover Trials.Sports medicine - open · 2024Pooled it
- The Effect of Sitting Duration on Peripheral Blood Pressure Responses to Prolonged Sitting, With and Without Interruption: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2024Pooled it
- The Effects of Acute Exposure to Prolonged Sitting, with and Without Interruption, on Peripheral Blood Pressure Among Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2022Pooled it
- The Effects of Acute Exposure to Prolonged Sitting, With and Without Interruption, on Vascular Function Among Adults: A Meta-analysis.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2020Pooled it
- Eight weeks of high-intensity interval training is insufficient to prevent sitting-induced endothelial dysfunction and microvascular impairment.Experimental physiology · 2026Trial
- Dietary flavanols preserve upper- and lower-limb endothelial function during sitting in high- and low-fit young healthy males.The Journal of physiology · 2026Trial
- Effects of thigh muscle activity patterns on blood pressure and edema during interrupted sitting in overweight and obese men.European journal of applied physiology · 2026Trial
- Leg fidgeting alleviates reduced oxygen extraction in the gastrocnemius muscle caused by prolonged sitting: a randomized crossover trial.European journal of applied physiology · 2025Trial
- Uninterrupted prolonged sitting and arterial stiffness: moderating effect of prior aerobic exercise in physically active adults.European journal of applied physiology · 2024Trial
- The metabolic effects of habitual leg shaking: A randomized crossover trial.Journal of diabetes · 2024Trial
- The effects of a motorized passive simulated jogging device on descent of the arterial pulse waveform dicrotic notch: A single arm placebo-controlled cross-over trial.Physiological reports · 2022Trial
- Effects of continuous hypoxia on flow-mediated dilation in the cerebral and systemic circulation: on the regulatory significance of shear rate phenotype.The journal of physiological sciences : JPS · 2022Trial
- Leg Fidgeting Improves Executive Function following Prolonged Sitting with a Typical Western Meal: A Randomized, Controlled Cross-Over Trial.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Trial
- Central and peripheral arterial stiffness responses to uninterrupted prolonged sitting combined with a high-fat meal: a randomized controlled crossover trial.Hypertension research : official journal of the Japanese Society of Hypertension · 2021Trial
- Blood flow restriction in the presence or absence of muscle contractions does not preserve vasculature structure and function following 14-days of limb immobilization.European journal of applied physiology · 2021Trial
- Leg Fidgeting During Prolonged Sitting Improves Postprandial Glycemic Control in People with Obesity.Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.) · 2021Trial
- A single arm trial using passive simulated jogging for blunting acute hyperglycemia.Scientific reports · 2021Trial
- Trial
19 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Prolonged sitting impairs endothelial function in the leg vasculature, and this impairment is thought to be largely mediated by a sustained reduction in blood flow-induced shear stress. Indeed, preventing the marked reduction of shear stress during sitting with local heating abolishes the impairment in popliteal artery endothelial function. Herein, we tested the hypothesis that sitting-induced reductions in shear stress and ensuing endothelial dysfunction would be prevented by periodic leg movement, or "fidgeting." In 11 young, healthy subjects, bilateral measurements of popliteal artery flow-mediated dilation (FMD) were performed before and after a 3-h sitting period during which one leg was subjected to intermittent fidgeting (1 min on/4 min off) while the contralateral leg remained still throughout and served as an internal control. Fidgeting produced a pronounced increase in popliteal artery blood flow and shear rate (prefidgeting, 33.7 ± 2.6 s(-1) to immediately postfidgeting, 222.7 ± 28.3 s(-1); mean ± SE; P < 0.001) that tapered off during the following 60 s. Fidgeting did not alter popliteal artery blood flow and shear rate of the contralateral leg, which was subjected to a reduction in blood flow and shear rate throughout the sitting period (presit, 71.7 ± 8.0 s(-1) to 3-h sit, 20.2 ± 2.9 s(-1); P < 0.001). Popliteal artery FMD was impaired after 3 h of sitting in the control leg (presit, 4.5 ± 0.3% to postsit: 1.6 ± 1.1%; P = 0.039) but improved in the fidgeting leg (presit, 3.7 ± 0.6% to postsit, 6.6 ± 1.2%; P = 0.014). Collectively, the present study provides evidence that prolonged sitting-induced leg endothelial dysfunction is preventable with small amounts of leg movement while sitting, likely through the intermittent increases in vascular shear stress.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.