While drug use has been shown to impair cardiac autonomic regulation, exercise might overcome some of the damage. Herein, we describe how individuals with substance use disorder (SUD) have their heart rate variability (HRV) and drug-related behaviors negatively affected in response to a stressor. However, we show how cardiorespiratory fitness may attenuate those impairments in autonomic control. Fifteen individuals with SUD were matched with 15 non-SUD individuals by age, weight, height, and fitness level, and had their HRV responses under stress induced by the Cold Pressor Test (CPT). The SUD group had lower mean of R-R intervals before and after the CPT when compared with the non-SUD group. In addition, in individuals with SUD, higher cardiorespiratory fitness level predicted greater vagal activity before, during, and after CPT. Moreover, for individuals with SUD, days of abstinence predicted greater mean of R-R intervals during recovery from the CPT. Finally, years of drug use negatively predicted mean of R-R intervals during recovery. Thus, our results suggest that chronic drug use impairs cardiac autonomic regulation at rest and after a physical stress. However, cardiorespiratory fitness might attenuate these impairments by increasing vagal autonomic activity.
Heart Failure is a clinical syndrome prevalent throughout the world and a major
contribution to mortality of cardiac patients in Brazil. In addition, this
pathology is strongly related to cerebral dysfunction, with a high prevalence of
cognitive impairment. Many mechanisms may be related to cognitive loss, such as
cerebral hypoperfusion, atrophy and loss of gray matter of the brain, and
dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system. The literature is clear regarding
the benefits of aerobic physical activity in healthy populations in the
modulation of the autonomic nervous system and in brain functions. Studies have
shown that in the population of patients with heart failure, exercise is
associated with an improvement in cognitive function, as well as in cardiac
autonomic regulation. However, little emphasis has been given to the mechanisms
by which aerobic physical activity can benefit brain functioning, the autonomic
nervous system and result in better cognitive performance, particularly in
patients with heart failure. Therefore, the present work presents the ways in
which brain areas responsible for cognition also act in the modulation of the
autonomic nervous system, and emphasizes its importance for the understanding of
cognitive impairment in relation to the pathophysiology of heart failure. It is
also described the way in which aerobic physical activity can promote benefits
when it is integrated into the therapy, associated to a better prognosis of the
clinical picture of these patients.
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