Relationship between birth weight and the autonomic nervous system

Abstract

BackgroundEpidemiological studies have suggested that low or high birth weight is a risk factor for hypertension in later life. Generally, blood pressure is regulated by several factors, including the number of nephrons, hypothalamic pituitary adrenal function, and the autonomic nervous system (ANS). However, the mechanism by which low or high birth weight leads to hypertension has barely been elucidated. To address this lack of research, we studied the relationship between birth weight and ANS.PurposeThe aim of this study was to investigate the effect of birth weight on heart rate variability (HRV) and cardiovascular responses.MethodsIn nonsmoking, healthy volunteers aged 20 to 30 years, we measured ECG and blood pressure (BP) in the right arm by autonomic sphygmomanometer after stabilization for 5 min throughout the experiment. We allocated participants to a low‐birth‐weight group, normal‐birth‐weight group, and high‐birth‐weight group.ResultBirth weight was inversely correlated with systolic BP and the ratio of low‐frequency to high‐frequency (LF/HF) power, an index of sympathetic nerve activity. There was a positive relationship between systolic BP and LF/HF.ConclusionLow birth weight probably has an influence on autonomic nervous system regulation.