Brain–Heart Interaction

Abstract

Neurocardiology is an emerging specialty that addresses the interaction between the brain and the heart, i.e. the effects of cardiac injury on the brain, and the effects of brain injury on the heart. This review article focuses on cardiac dysfunction in the setting of stroke such as ischemic stroke, brain hemorrhage and subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). The majority of post stroke deaths are attributed to neurological damage, and cardiovascular complications are the second leading cause of post stroke mortality. Accumulating clinical and experimental evidence suggests a causal relationship between brain damage and heart dysfunction. Thus, it is important to determine whether cardiac dysfunction is triggered by stroke, is an unrelated complication, or is the underlying cause of stroke. Stroke induced cardiac damage may lead to fatality or potentially lifelong cardiac problems (such as heart failure), or to mild and recoverable damage such as neurogenic stress cardiomyopathy (NSC) and Takotsubo cardiomyopathy. The role of location and lateralization of brain lesions after stroke in brain-heart interaction, clinical biomarkers and manifestations of cardiac complications, and underlying mechanisms of brain-heart interaction following stroke, such as: the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis (HPA); catecholamine surge; sympathetic and parasympathetic regulation; microvesicles (MV’s); microRNAs; gut microbiome, immunoresponse and systemic inflammation are discussed.

Beta‐Blocker Therapy in Severe Traumatic Brain Injury: A Prospective Randomized Controlled Trial

“…IRR 0.32 [95% CI 0.1-0.9], p = 0.037). The concept of neurocardiology is important in the context of severe TBI where the event of brain injury can lead to autonomic dysfunction and subsequent cardiac dysfunction, ischemia and arrhythmias [24][25][26]. Cardiac pathology is seen in up to 20% of patients with autopsies demonstrating similarities between cardiac injuries in TBI and in patients who die from a pheochromocytoma or a cocaine overdose [7].…”

Clinical analysis of acute cerebrovascular disease accompanying brain-heart syndrome

“…Secondly, followed by a large area of cerebral infarction can also occur, indicating bleeding stroke patients the impact on the heart than ischemic stroke patients. [3,4] In the subarachnoid space of this group, the highest incidence of bleeding was 54.55%, followed by cerebral hemorrhage (31.81%), cerebral infarction dead (13.64%). The incidence of hemorrhagic stroke complicated with brain -heart syndrome (86.36%) was significantly higher than that of ischemic stroke (13.64%) (P <0.01).…”

Effects of high intensity interval training on neuro-cardiovascular dynamic changes and mitochondrial dysfunction induced by high-fat diet in rats

“…On the other hand, as reported previously, HIIT was able to promote benefits in autonomic function after 4 weeks of physical training compared to the control group [ 41 ]. These results explain the functional changes observed in the contractility and relaxation indexes of the heart, since autonomic dysfunction is one of the mechanisms associated with remodeling and myocardial dysfunction [ 42 ].…”