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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 295/1/H29    most recent 01373.2007v2 01373.2007v1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Google Scholar Articles by Henze, M. Articles by Scrogin, K. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Henze, M. Articles by Scrogin, K.

Persistent alterations in heart rate variability, baroreflex sensitivity, and anxiety-like behaviors during development of heart failure in the rat

¹Department of Pharmacology and ²The Cardiovascular Institute, Loyola University Chicago, Stritch School of Medicine, Maywood, Illinois

Submitted 27 November 2007 ; accepted in final form 29 April 2008

Depressed heart rate variability and mood are associated with increased mortality in patients with congestive heart failure (CHF). Here autonomic indexes were assessed 3 and 7 wk after left coronary artery ligation in telemetered rats, after which anxiety-like behaviors were assessed in an elevated plus maze. Low frequency (LF) and high frequency (HF) heart rate variability were reduced in CHF rats 3 wk after infarction (LF, 1.60 ± 0.52 vs. 6.97 ± 0.79 ms²; and HF, 1.53 ± 0.39 vs. 6.20 ± 1.01 ms²; P < 0.01). The number of sequences of interbeat intervals that correlated with arterial pressure was decreased in CHF rats at 3 and 7 wk (week 3, 26.60 ± 10.85 vs. 59.75 ± 11.4 sequences, P < 0.05; and week 7, 20.80 ± 8.97 vs. 65.38 ± 5.89 sequences, P < 0.01). Sequence gain was attenuated in CHF rats by 7 wk (1.34 ± 0.06 vs. 2.70 ± 0.29 ms/mmHg, P < 0.01). Coherence between interbeat interval and mean arterial blood pressure variability in the LF domain was reduced in CHF rats at 3 (0.12 ± 0.03 vs. 0.26 ± 0.05 k², P < 0.05) and 7 (0.16 ± 0.02 vs. 0.31 ± 0.05 k², P < 0.05) wk. CHF rats invariably entered the open arm of the elevated plus maze first and spent more time in the open arms (36.0 ± 15% vs. 4.6 ± 1.9%, P < 0.05). CHF rats also showed a tendency to jump head first off the apparatus, whereas controls did not. Together the data indicate that severe autonomic dysfunction is accompanied by escape-seeking behaviors in rats with verified CHF.

telemetry; blood pressure; elevated plus maze; myocardial infarction; congestive heart failure