Do physiological and pathological stresses produce different changes in heart rate variability?

From National Research Council Canada

DOI	Resolve DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2013.00197
Author	Search for: Bravi, Andrea; Search for: Green, Geoffrey; Search for: Herry, Christophe; Search for: Wright, Heather E.; Search for: Longtin, André; Search for: Kenny, Glen P.; Search for: Seely, Andrew J. E.
Format	Text, Article
Physical description	8 p.
Subject	dimensions of variability; disease; domains of variability; exercise; physical activity; sepsis
Abstract	Although physiological (e.g., exercise) and pathological (e.g., infection) stress affecting the cardiovascular system have both been documented to be associated with a reduction in overall heart rate variability (HRV), it remains unclear if loss of HRV is ubiquitously similar across different domains of variability analysis or if distinct patterns of altered HRV exist depending on the stressor. Using Continuous Individualized Multiorgan Variability Analysis (CIMVA™) software, heart rate (HR) and four selected measures of variability were measured over time (windowed analysis) from two datasets, a set (n = 13) of patients who developed systemic infection (i.e., sepsis) after bone marrow transplant (BMT), and a matched set of healthy subjects undergoing physical exercise under controlled conditions. HR and the four HRV measures showed similar trends in both sepsis and exercise. The comparison through Wilcoxon sign-rank test of the levels of variability at baseline and during the stress (i.e., exercise or after days of sepsis development) showed similar changes, except for LF/HF, ratio of power at low (LF) and high (HF) frequencies (associated with sympathovagal modulation), which was affected by exercise but did not show any change during sepsis. Furthermore, HRV measures during sepsis showed a lower level of correlation with each other, as compared to HRV during exercise. In conclusion, this exploratory study highlights similar responses during both exercise and infection, with differences in terms of correlation and inter-subject fluctuations, whose physiologic significance merits further investigation.
Publication date	2013-07-30
Publisher	Frontiers Media
In	Frontiers in Physiology 4.
Language	English
Peer reviewed	Yes
NRC publication	This is a non-NRC publication "Non-NRC publications" are publications authored by NRC employees prior to their employment by NRC.
NPARC number	23001153
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Record identifier	87f35dfc-659d-4852-befc-4af182b6570a
Record created	2016-12-16
Record modified	2020-04-22

Date modified:: 2026-01-16