Older subjects show no age-related decrease in cardiac baroreceptor sensitivity

Dawson, Suzanne L.; Robinson, Thompson G.; Youde, Jane; Martin, A; James, Martin; Weston, Philip J.; Panerai, R.B.; Potter, John F.

doi:10.1093/ageing/28.4.347

Cited by 20 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…In agreement with previous smaller studies that use different methods to assess BRS, 2,3,[17][18][19] we show that spontaneous BRS significantly declines with age. Loss of arterial distensibility with age is generally regarded to be the main mechanism responsible for reduction in BRS in older subjects.…”

Section: Effect Of Age and Gender On Brssupporting

confidence: 93%

“…Laitinen et al 3 found no association between resting HR and phenylephrinederived BRS. However, others have shown a significant relationship between HR and BRS assessed by the spontaneous method 19 or by phenylephrine. 2 In our cohort of healthy subjects, HR was 1 of the 2 strongest independent predictors of spontaneous BRS, contributing 26% of the variability of BRS.…”

Section: Effect Of Other Variables On Brsmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…Gender has been found to be an independent predictor of BRS in some studies 3 but not in others. 19 When evaluated by the phenylephrine bolus technique or Valsalva maneuver, BRS in young or middle-aged healthy women has been found to be lower than in men. 3,23,24 Interestingly, gender differences in BRS have not been seen in older subjects 3 or when baroreflex activation was achieved by a slow infusion of phenylephrine.…”

Section: Effect Of Age and Gender On Brsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Determinants of Spontaneous Baroreflex Sensitivity in a Healthy Working Population

Kardos

Watterich

Csanády

et al. 2000

Journal of Hypertension

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Abstract-Baroreflex sensitivity (BRS) by the spontaneous sequence technique has been widely used as a cardiac autonomic index for a variety of pathological conditions. However, little information is available on determinants of the variability of spontaneous BRS and on age-related reference values of this measurement in a healthy population. We evaluated BRS as the slope of spontaneous changes in systolic blood pressure (BP) and pulse interval from 10 minutes BP (Finapres) and ECG recordings in 1134 healthy volunteers 18 to 60 years of age. Measurement of BRS could be obtained in 90% of subjects. Those with unmeasurable spontaneous BRS had a slightly lower heart rate but were otherwise not different from the rest of the population. BRS was inversely related to age (lnBRS, 3.24Ϫ0.03ϫage; r 2 ϭ0.23; PϽ0.0001) in both genders. In addition, univariate analysis revealed a significant inverse correlation between BRS and heart rate, body mass index, and BP. Sedentary lifestyle and regular alcohol consumption were also associated with lower BRS. However, only age, heart rate, systolic and diastolic BP, body mass index, smoking, and gender were independent predictors of BRS in a multivariate model, accounting for 47% of the variance of BRS. The present study provides reference values for spontaneous BRS in a healthy white population. Only approximately half of the variability of BRS could be explained by anthropometric variables and common risk factors, which suggests that a significant proportion of interindividual differences may reflect genetic heterogeneity. which measures BRS as the slope of the relationship between the increase in systolic blood pressure (SBP) that follows an intravenous bolus of phenylephrine and the reflex lengthening of the pulse interval (PI). By use of this technique, studies have shown BRS to decrease with age 2,3 and in the presence of hypertension, coronary artery disease, and heart failure. 4,5 In addition, a recent large prospective study has demonstrated that BRS is an important independent prognostic predictor of total cardiac mortality in patients after myocardial infarction. 6 In the past few years, noninvasive techniques have gained increasing popularity. In particular, measurement of BRS as the slope of the relationship between spontaneous changes in SBP and PI (the "spontaneous sequence method") 7,8 has proved to be an easy and practical method that minimizes risk and circumvents the problems related to potential extravascular effects of vasoactive agents. 9 However, this technique has been used to date only in small studies. Little information is available regarding determinants of variability of spontaneous BRS in healthy subjects and the feasibility of this measurement in large-scale population studies. In the present study, we evaluated BRS by the spontaneous sequence method in a large population of healthy working subjects between 18 and 60 years of age with the aim of assessing (1) feasibility of this method in a large "field" study; (2) age-adjusted normal ranges for spontan...

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Section: Effect Of Age and Gender On Brssupporting

confidence: 93%

Section: Effect Of Other Variables On Brsmentioning

confidence: 94%

Section: Effect Of Age and Gender On Brsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Determinants of Spontaneous Baroreflex Sensitivity in a Healthy Working Population

Kardos

Watterich

Csanády

et al. 2000

Journal of Hypertension

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“…The reason why BRS was independently associated only with morning BP is unknown, but one possible explanation is that activation of the sympathetic nervous system, which is seen in hypertensive patients with morning hypertension, decreases BRS (24,25). It is also possible that heart rate is inversely correlated with BRS (26,27), which might have affected our results. In the present study, only the Valsalva-BRS was associated with morning SBP, but the spontaneous-BRS, which was associated with clinic and ambulatory PRs, was not associated with any BP measures.…”

Section: Arterial Brs and Bp Controlmentioning

confidence: 84%

Factors Associated with Baroreflex Sensitivity: Association with Morning Blood Pressure

et al. 2007

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Baroreflex sensitivity (BRS) is a primary mechanism for acute and chronic control of blood pressure (BP).However, there are few data showing the relationship between BRS and ambulatory BP (ABP). We assessed the hypothesis that BRS specifically contributes to some specific parameters of ABP in never-treated hypertensive/normotensive subjects. We studied 128 subjects (mean age: 54.5 ± 13 years, 60% male) consisting of 92 untreated hypertensive and 36 normotensive subjects. Radial tonometric BP and simultaneous RR interval were recorded for 10 min, and the Valsalva maneuver was performed 3 times for each subject. BRS was calculated in two ways: the spontaneous-BRS by the spectral method, and the Valsalva-BRS by the slope method, using commercial software. ABP monitoring was performed on the same day as the BRS test.

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“…Firstly, there were differences in age and BMI between the NV and MI patients. Whereas baroreceptor sensitivity is reported to be unchanged between ages 25 and 60, 42 increased BMI has an important effect on BP, HR 43 and autonomic function by lowering both sympathetic and parasympathetic activity. 15,44 There is conclusive research evidence for an inverse relationship between sympathetic (and to a lesser extent in parasympathetic) activity and age.…”

Section: Study Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Autonomic and Cardiovascular Effects of Acute High Altitude Exposure After Myocardial Infarction and in Normal Volunteers

Messerli‐Bürgy

Meyer

Steptoe³

et al. 2009

Circ J

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Background: High sympathetic tone creates a significant risk for ventricular arrhythmias and sudden death, which can especially affect patients after a myocardial infarction (MI) when exercising in a hypoxic environment. Methods and Results: The 16 patients after MI and 10 normal volunteers (NV) underwent a 1-day trip from low altitude (540 m, Bern) to high altitude (3,564 m Jungfraujoch, Swiss Alps). Autonomic function under resting and mental stress conditions at low and high altitude was assessed. MI patients demonstrated a significantly lower stroke volume (P<0.05) at rest compared with the NV at low as well as high altitude. High altitude exposure was accompanied by higher low-frequency/high-frequency values in the MI patients compared with NV (P<0.01). Following mental stress, MI patients failed to show the normal return to resting values at high altitude, suggesting sustained sympathetic and diminished parasympathetic activation during post-stress recovery. Conclusions: Although all MI patients were either on β-blockers or AII inhibitors, they showed higher sympathetic activity during exposure to high altitude compared with NV. In addition, the respective parasympathetic tone was reduced, especially during recovery. This puts patients after MI at an increased risk for cardiac arrhythmias and they should be advised of this if going to high altitudes. (Circ J 2009; 73: 1485 -1491

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Older subjects show no age-related decrease in cardiac baroreceptor sensitivity

Cited by 20 publications

References 26 publications

Determinants of Spontaneous Baroreflex Sensitivity in a Healthy Working Population

Determinants of Spontaneous Baroreflex Sensitivity in a Healthy Working Population

Factors Associated with Baroreflex Sensitivity: Association with Morning Blood Pressure

Autonomic and Cardiovascular Effects of Acute High Altitude Exposure After Myocardial Infarction and in Normal Volunteers

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