8 research outputs found
Stretching increases heart rate variability in healthy athletes complaining about limited muscular flexibility
Associations between being overweight, variability in heart rate, and well-being in the young men
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Effects of olanzapine and clozapine upon pulse rate variability
Based upon their in vitro receptor binding profiles, the atypical antipsychotics clozapine and olanzapine exhibit cholinergic receptor binding of similar potency. Data comparing the in vivo anticholinergic effects, however, of these neuroleptics upon neurocardiac control are sparse. The goal of this study was to compare the in vivo effects of clozapine and olanzapine upon neurocardiac control by assessment of the pulse rate variability (PRV) in schizophrenic patients and healthy controls. Twenty patients with schizophrenia (according to DSM-III-R criteria) treated with either clozapine (100-600 mg/day) or olanzapine (10-20 mg/day), and ten healthy controls, were recruited into the study. PRV was assessed by continuously recording the skin blood volume in the fingertip of the second digit under resting conditions and PRV parameters were calculated. When significant differences in PRV parameters between the patients and controls were detected by Kruskal-Wallis tests, Mann-Whitney tests were used to test for group differences between the olanzapine- and clozapine-treated patients. In comparison to the healthy controls, the PRV parameters of the clozapine- and olanzapine-treated schizophrenic patients were significantly reduced. Indeed the reduction of PRV was significantly greater in the clozapine-treated group compared to the olanzapine-treated group (P<0.05). Compared to the controls, only the clozapine-treated patients showed a significantly diminished low-frequency (LF)/high frequency (HF)-ratio, a PRV parameter reflecting sympatho-vagal balance. The significantly greater reductions in PRV parameters of the clozapine-treated compared to olanzapine-treated patients may be caused by clozapine's higher affinity for alpha(1)-adrenergic receptors in vivo compared with olanzapine. The similar LF/HF ratios of the healthy controls and olanzapine-treated patients suggests that the sympathetic-parasympathetic modulation of PRV remains relatively unchanged even during olanzapine treatment
Longitudinal relationship between B-type natriuretic peptide and anxiety in coronary heart disease patients with depression
Objective: Patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) suffer from physical limitations, but also from psychological distress. Natriuretic peptides may be involved in the neurobiological processes that modulate psychological adaptation, as they are increased in heart disease and seem to have an anxiolytic-like function. Longitudinal data on this association are scarce. Methods: To assess the relationship between NT-proBNP and anxiety (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS)), we used secondary data from a multicenter trial from baseline to 24 months. Patients (N = 308, 80.8% male, mean age 60.1 years) had stable CHD and moderate levels of depression (HADS >= 8). Results: Multiple linear regression adjusted for age, sex, BMI, and physical functioning revealed NT-proBNP as a significant predictor for anxiety at baseline, 1, 6, 12, 18, and 24 months (all p < .05). Linear mixed model analysis with the six anxiety measures as level-1 variable and NT-proBNP as fixed factor revealed a significant time*NT-proBNP interaction (t(1535.99) = -2.669, p = .01) as well as a significant time*NT-proBNP*sex-interaction (1(1535.99) = 3.277, p = .001), when NT-proBNP was dichotomized into lowest vs. the three highest quartiles. Conclusion: Our results indicate a stable negative association of baseline NT-proBNP with anxiety over two years. In men and women, different pathways modulating this relationship appear to be in effect. Female patients with very low NT-proBNP levels, despite their cardiac disease, show persistently higher levels of anxiety compared to women with higher levels of NT-proBNP and compared to men