Higher blood pressure and lower cardiac vagal activity in obese young individuals in supine and seated position

Abstract

List of abbreviations: AC-abdominal circumference; BMI-body mass index; BP-blood pressure; DBP-diastolic blood pressure; HF-high frequency; HR-heart rate; HRV-heart rate variability; LF-low frequency; pNN50: percentage of adjacent R-R intervals with a duration difference of > 50 ms; TP-total power; RMSSDsquare root of squared mean of differences between adjacent normal R-R intervals; SBP-systolic blood pressure; SD1-standard deviation of the instantaneous beat-to-beat variability; SD2-long-term standard deviation of the continuous R-R intervals; VLF: very low frequency; WC-waist circumference. Background: Obesity triggers alterations in hemodynamic and autonomic control. There are few studies that investigate the effects of overweight and obesity in early adulthood on hemodynamic and autonomic variables. Aim: The aim of this study was to determine whether overweight and obesity in young individuals cause alterations in hemodynamic parameters and heart rate variability (HRV) in supine and seated position, and to correlate these variables with anthropometric features. Methods: Measurements were performed in 40 young untrained male study participants. The subjects were eutrophic (22.8 ± 0.3 kg/m 2 , N = 19), overweight (27.0 ± 0.5 kg/m 2 , N = 10), and obese (33.5 ± 0.8 kg/m 2 , N = 11). After 5 min in supine and seated position, the R-R intervals and blood pressure (BP) were recorded. Results: The systolic blood pressure were higher in overweight (supine, 122.9 ± 2.3 mmHg) and obese (supine, 123.9 ± 2.2; seated, 121.7 ± 2.3 mmHg) individuals compared to eutrophic individuals (supine, 111.8 ± 1.64; seated, 111.3 ± 1.8 mmHg) (p ≤ 0.05). Obese subjects exhibited lower HRV (SD1, RMSSD, pNN50) compared to eutrophic individuals when seated. In obese subjects, the heart rate (HR) increased and HRV decreased (p ≤ 0.05) when seated versus supine position. The body mass, body mass index (BMI), and waist and abdominal circumferences correlated positively with BP (r = 0.40−0.64, p ≤ 0.05), while the BMI, waist circumference, BP, and HR were negatively correlated (r = −0.32 − −0.62, p ≤ 0.05) with HRV (pNN50 and HF) in both body positions. BMI, waist circumference, BP and HR correlated negatively with additional HRV indices (SD1, SD2, RMSSD, TP, and LF) when seated. Conclusions: Obese and overweight individuals presented higher SBP, and obese individuals had lower HRV and cardiac vagal activity, associated with anthropometric variables. Relevance for patients: The monitoring of HRV in obese subjects in seated position allows improved prognosis of metabolic consequences to cardiac autonomic control.

Ambulatory heart rate variability in overweight and obese men after high‐intensity interval exercise versus moderate‐intensity continuous exercise

“…The cardiovagal baroreflex sensitivity is higher in the supine position than in the standing or seated position (Kardos, Rudas, Simon, Gingl, & Csanády, 1997; O'Leary, Kimmerly, Cechetto, & Shoemaker, 2003). Young individuals with obesity presented a reduction in HRV when the seated position was adopted, but not in the supine position when compared with the eutrophic pairs, which could be related to reduced baroreflex sensitivity in the seated position (Dias et al, 2018). Based on these studies, we speculated that HIIE provoked an increase in the baroreflex sensitivity in the sleep period when the supine position was adopted.…”

Meta-Analysis and Systematic Review of Resting-State High-Frequency Heart Rate Variability in Binge-Eating Disorder

“…A large body of research suggests that ANS functioning differs between individuals at higher and lower weights. Compared to people without high weights, individuals with high weights tend to show lower HRV (e.g., Dias et al, 2017;Laederach-Hofmann et al, 2000;Rossi et al, 2015;Tonhajzerova et al, 2008;Yadav et al, 2017); however, it should be noted that BMI itself has not always been correlated with HRV in individuals with high weights (Yadav et al, 2017). Importantly, it is possible that correlates of higher weight, including, but not limited to, socioeconomic status (Ball & Crawford, 2005), increased exposure to discrimination or stigma based on weight (Puhl et al, 2020;Tomiyama, 2014), and poorer nutritional intake due to decreased accessibility (Brown et al, 2019;Gailey & Bruckner, 2019;Lopez, 2007), may instead be driving associations between HRV and weight.…”