RESEARCH PAPER
Resting heart rate variability and plasma noradrenaline level as a measurement of autonomic nervous system activity in mature, aging rats
1
Department of Pathophysiology, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Krakow, Poland
Corresponding author
Łukasz Dobrek
Department of Pathophysiology, Jagiellonian University Medical College, 31-121 Kraków, Poland
Department of Pathophysiology, Jagiellonian University Medical College, 31-121 Kraków, Poland
J Pre Clin Clin Res. 2016;10(1):50-56
KEYWORDS
ABSTRACT
Introduction:
Aging is a process that also affects the autonomic nervous system (ANS) making it less adaptable to environmental and intrinsic stimuli and affecting its ability to maintain body homeostasis. The aim of this study was to estimate the resting ANS function using heart rate variability (HRV) method and by noradrenaline measurement in aging, 2–12-months-old rats.
Material and Methods:
Resting 15-minute-long ECG recordings were performed in anaesthetized rats with a subsequent spectral HRV analysis. Basic non-normalized HRV components in the range of very low (VLF), low (LF) and high (HF) frequency, along with the total HRV spectrum power (TP) were estimated. Moreover, normalized LF (nLF) and normalized HF (nHF) were calculated. Blood samples were also collected to assay plasma noradrenaline (NA) level.
Results:
In the overall assessment, plasma noradrenaline level as well as both TP and all non-normalized HRV components demonstrated a tendency for reduction when compared the first (2nd) and last (12th) months. In the case of nLF and nHF, a trend of nLF predominance in the 2nd and 3rd month was revealed while an inverse relation was observed from the 6th month on, with nHF superiority. Overall, males reached comparable or slightly higher NA and non-normalized HRV values compared to females, although most differences were not statistically significant. A parallel decline of LF (starting from the 10th month) and HF (from the 6th month) was demonstrated in both male and female animals. Female rats had a little more stable nLF and nHF course in the study time
Conclusions:
Rat ANS aging is associated with global HRV decrease with parallel plasma NA decline, although without selective impairment of individual (sympathetic/parasympathetic) ANS components.
Aging is a process that also affects the autonomic nervous system (ANS) making it less adaptable to environmental and intrinsic stimuli and affecting its ability to maintain body homeostasis. The aim of this study was to estimate the resting ANS function using heart rate variability (HRV) method and by noradrenaline measurement in aging, 2–12-months-old rats.
Material and Methods:
Resting 15-minute-long ECG recordings were performed in anaesthetized rats with a subsequent spectral HRV analysis. Basic non-normalized HRV components in the range of very low (VLF), low (LF) and high (HF) frequency, along with the total HRV spectrum power (TP) were estimated. Moreover, normalized LF (nLF) and normalized HF (nHF) were calculated. Blood samples were also collected to assay plasma noradrenaline (NA) level.
Results:
In the overall assessment, plasma noradrenaline level as well as both TP and all non-normalized HRV components demonstrated a tendency for reduction when compared the first (2nd) and last (12th) months. In the case of nLF and nHF, a trend of nLF predominance in the 2nd and 3rd month was revealed while an inverse relation was observed from the 6th month on, with nHF superiority. Overall, males reached comparable or slightly higher NA and non-normalized HRV values compared to females, although most differences were not statistically significant. A parallel decline of LF (starting from the 10th month) and HF (from the 6th month) was demonstrated in both male and female animals. Female rats had a little more stable nLF and nHF course in the study time
Conclusions:
Rat ANS aging is associated with global HRV decrease with parallel plasma NA decline, although without selective impairment of individual (sympathetic/parasympathetic) ANS components.
REFERENCES (28)
1.
Pickoff AS, Stolfi AS. Postnatal maturation of autonomic modulation of heart rate. J Electrocardiol. 1996; 29 Suppl.: 215–222.
2.
Ursell PC, Ren CL, Danilo P Jr. Anatomic distribution of autonomic neural tissue in the developing dog heart: sympathetic innervation. Anat Rec. 1990; 226(1): 71–80.
3.
Chow LT, Chow SS, Anderson RH, Gosling JA. Innervation of the human cardiac conduction system at birth. Br Heart J. 1993; 69(5): 430–435.
4.
Gandhi DK, Singh J. Ageing and autonomic nervous system activity. J Phys Pharm Adv. 2012; 2(9): 307–311.
5.
Hotta H, Uchida S. Aging of the autonomic nervous system and possible improvements in autonomic activity using somatic afferent stimulation. Geriatr Gerontol Int. 2010; 10(Suppl. 1): S127-S136.
6.
Collins KJ. Aging, disease and the autonomic nervous system. Rev Clin Gerontol. 1997; 7: 119–126.
7.
Berntson GG, Bigger JT JR, Eckberg DL, Grossman P, Kaufmann PG, Malik M, et al. Heart rate variability: origins, methods, and interpretive caveats. Psychophysiology 1997; 34(6): 623–648.
8.
Sztajzel J. Heart rate variability: a noninvasive electrocardiographic method to measure the autonomic nervous system. Swiss Med Wkly. 2004; 134 (35–36): 514–522.
9.
Zygmunt A, Stańczyk J. Methods of evaluation of autonomic nervous system function. Arch Med Sci. 2010; 6(1): 11–18.
10.
Karim N, Hasan JA, Ali SS. Heart rate variability – a review. J Basic Appl Sci. 2011; 7(1): 71–77.
11.
Dobrek Ł, Thor PJ. Current concepts in clinical and laboratory assessments of autonomic nervous system activity. J Pre-Clin Clin Res. 2015; 9(1): 63–68.
12.
Malik M (ed.). Heart rate variability.Standards of measurement, physiological interpretation, and clinical use. Task Force of The European Society of Cardiology and The North American Society of Pacing and Electrophysiology. Eur Heart J. 1996; 17(3): 354–381.
13.
Kwiatkowska J. Ogólne wiadomości o rozrodzie. In: Brylińska J, Kwiatkowska J. Zwierzęta laboratoryjne. Metody hodowli i doświadczeń. Wydanie I. Towarzystwo Autorów i Wydawców Prac Naukowych UNIVERSITAS, Kraków, 1996. (inpolish).
14.
Strzyżewska E, Szweda M. Podstawowe parametry fizjologiczne wybranych zwierząt laboratoryjnych oraz przegląd leków stosowanych u tych zwierząt. In: Szarek J, Szweda M, Strzyżewska E. Zwierzęta laboratoryjne – użytkowanie i patologia. Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Warmińsko-Mazurskiego, Olsztyn, 2013. (in polish).
15.
Aubert AE, Ramaekers D, Beckers F, Breem R, Denef C, Van De Werf F, Ector H. The analysis of heart rate variability in unrestrained rats. Validation of method and results. Comput Methods Programs Biomed. 1999; 60: 197–213.
16.
Goncalves H, Henriques-Coelho T, Bernardes J, Rocha AP, Brandao- Nogueira A, Leite-Moreira A. Analysis of heart rate variability in a rat model of induced pulmonary hypertension. Med Eng Phys. 2010; 32: 746–752.
17.
Yukishita T, Lee K, Kim S, Yumoto Y, Kobayashi A, Shirasawa T, Kobayashi H. Age and sex-dependent alternation in heart rate variability: profiling the characteristics of men and women in their 30s. Anti-Aging Medicine 2010; 7(8): 94–99.
18.
Reardon M, Malik M. Changes in heart rate variability with age. Pacing Clin Electrophysiol. 1996; 19(11 Pt2): 1863–1866.
19.
Akhter QF, Akhter QS, Rohman F, Sinha S, Ferdousi S. Effect of aging on short term heart rate variability. J Bangladesh Soc Physiol. 2014; 9(2): 78–82.
20.
Shankar V, Veeraiah S. Age related changes in the parasympathetic control of the heart. IJSRP 2012; 2(6): 1–6.
21.
Zajączkowski S, Zajączkowski M, Kosiński A, Grzybiak M, Wierzba TH. Ocena zmienności rytmu serca (HRV) w zaawansowanym wieku. Geriatria 2014; 8: 232–239.
22.
Kuwahara M, Yayou K, Ishii K, Hashimoto S, Tsubone H, Sugano S. Power spectral analysis of heart rate variability as a new method for assessing autonomic activity in the rat. J Electrocardiol. 1994; 27(4): 333–337.
23.
Zajączkowski S, Smolińska M, Badtke P, Wierzba TH. Time-domain and spectra analysis of heart rate variability in rats challenged with hypoxia. Comput Cardiol. 2014; 41: 785–788.
24.
Pereira-Junior P, Marocolo M, Rodrigues FP, Medei E, Nascimento JHM. Noninvasive method for electrocardiogram recording in conscious rats: feasibility for heart rat variability analysis. An Acad Bras Cienc. 2010; 82(2): 431–437.
25.
Maenpaa M, Penttila J, Laitio T, Kaisti K, Kuusela T, Hinkka S, Scheinin H. The effects of surgical levels of sevoflurane and propofolanaesthesia on heart rate variability. Eur J Anaesthesiol. 2007; 24(7): 626–633.
26.
Shimokawa A, Kunitake T, Takasaki M, Kannan H. Differential effects of anesthetic on sympathetic nerve activity and arterial baroreceptor reflex in chronically instrumented rats. J Auton Nerv Syst. 1998; 72(1): 46–54.
27.
Sato Y, Seo N, Kobahashi E. The dosing-time dependent effects of intravenous hypnotics in mice. Anesth Analg. 2005; 101: 1706–1708.
28.
Svorc P Jr., Bacova I, Svorc P, Buzga M. Autonomic nervous system under ketamine / xylazine and pentobarbital anaesthesia in a Wistar rat model: a chronobiological view. Prague Med Rep. 2013; 114 (2): 72–80.
Share
RELATED ARTICLE
| eISSN: | 1898-7516 |
| ISSN: | 1898-2395 |
We process personal data collected when visiting the website. The function of obtaining information about users and their behavior is carried out by voluntarily entered information in forms and saving cookies in end devices. Data, including cookies, are used to provide services, improve the user experience and to analyze the traffic in accordance with the Privacy policy. Data are also collected and processed by Google Analytics tool (more).
You can change cookies settings in your browser. Restricted use of cookies in the browser configuration may affect some functionalities of the website.
You can change cookies settings in your browser. Restricted use of cookies in the browser configuration may affect some functionalities of the website.
