TY - JOUR
T1 - Decreased heart rate variability is associated with higher levels of inflammation in middle-aged men
AU - Lampert, Rachel
AU - Bremner, J. Douglas
AU - Su, Shaoyong
AU - Miller, Andrew
AU - Lee, Forrester
AU - Cheema, Faiz
AU - Goldberg, Jack
AU - Vaccarino, Viola
N1 - Funding Information:
This study received financial support from the National Institutes of Health (Bethesda, MD) (K24HL077506, R01 HL68630, and R01 AG026255), Emory General Clinical Research Center (Atlanta, GA) (MO1-RR00039), and American Heart Association (Dallas, TX) (0245115N). United States Department of Veterans Affairs (Washington, DC) has supported the development and maintenance of the Vietnam Era Twin Registry. Invaluable assistance provided by VA Cooperative Study Program (Washington, DC); Department of Defense (Washington, DC); National Personnel Records Center (Overland, MO), National Archives, and Records Administration (College Park, MD); the Internal Revenue Service (Washington, DC); NIH (Bethesda, MD); National Opinion Research Center (Chicago, IL); National Research Council (Washington, DC), National Academy of Sciences (Washington, DC); and Institute for Survey Research (Washington, DC), Temple University (Philadelphia, PA).
PY - 2008/10
Y1 - 2008/10
N2 - Background: Many traditional risk factors for coronary artery disease (CAD) are associated with altered autonomic function. Inflammation may provide a link between risk factors, autonomic dysfunction, and CAD. We examined the association between heart rate variability (HRV), a measure of autonomic function, and inflammation, measured by C-reactive protein (CRP) and interleukin-6 (IL-6). Methods: We examined 264 middle-aged male twins free of symptomatic CAD. All underwent ambulatory electrocardiogram monitoring and 24-hour ultra low, very low, low, and high-frequency power were calculated using power spectral analysis. C-reactive protein and IL-6 were measured, and risk factors including age, smoking, hypertension, lipids, diabetes, body mass index (BMI), depression, and physical activity were assessed. Results: Physical activity, BMI, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, smoking, depression, and hypertension were directly associated with CRP and IL-6 and inversely associated with one or more HRV variables. There was a graded inverse relationship between all HRV parameters (except high frequency) and CRP and IL-6. After adjustment for age, BMI, activity, high-density lipoprotein, smoking, hypertension, depression, and diabetes, ultra low frequency and very low frequency remained significant predictors of CRP (P < .01). Conclusions: C-reactive protein is associated with decreased HRV, even after controlling for traditional CAD risk factors. Autonomic dysregulation leading to inflammation may represent one pathway through which traditional risk factors promote development of CAD.
AB - Background: Many traditional risk factors for coronary artery disease (CAD) are associated with altered autonomic function. Inflammation may provide a link between risk factors, autonomic dysfunction, and CAD. We examined the association between heart rate variability (HRV), a measure of autonomic function, and inflammation, measured by C-reactive protein (CRP) and interleukin-6 (IL-6). Methods: We examined 264 middle-aged male twins free of symptomatic CAD. All underwent ambulatory electrocardiogram monitoring and 24-hour ultra low, very low, low, and high-frequency power were calculated using power spectral analysis. C-reactive protein and IL-6 were measured, and risk factors including age, smoking, hypertension, lipids, diabetes, body mass index (BMI), depression, and physical activity were assessed. Results: Physical activity, BMI, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, smoking, depression, and hypertension were directly associated with CRP and IL-6 and inversely associated with one or more HRV variables. There was a graded inverse relationship between all HRV parameters (except high frequency) and CRP and IL-6. After adjustment for age, BMI, activity, high-density lipoprotein, smoking, hypertension, depression, and diabetes, ultra low frequency and very low frequency remained significant predictors of CRP (P < .01). Conclusions: C-reactive protein is associated with decreased HRV, even after controlling for traditional CAD risk factors. Autonomic dysregulation leading to inflammation may represent one pathway through which traditional risk factors promote development of CAD.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.ahj.2008.07.009
DO - 10.1016/j.ahj.2008.07.009
M3 - Article
C2 - 18926158
AN - SCOPUS:53149128792
SN - 0002-8703
VL - 156
SP - 759.e1-759.e7
JO - American Heart Journal
JF - American Heart Journal
IS - 4
ER -