TY - JOUR
T1 - Investigating the Dose-Response Relationship between Deep Breathing and Heart Rate Variability in Healthy Participants and Across-Days Reliability in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
AU - Liboriussen, Caroline Hundborg
AU - Andersen, Stine Søgaard
AU - Andersen, Sally Søgaard
AU - Jensen, Mette Kjeldsgaard
AU - Jochumsen, Mads
AU - Kristensen, Salome
PY - 2022/9/10
Y1 - 2022/9/10
N2 - Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) are associated with autonomic dysfunction, potentially through reduced vagus nerve tone. Vagus nerve stimulation has been proposed as an anti-inflammatory treatment, and it can be performed through deep breathing (DB) exercises. In this study, the dose-response relationship between DB exercises and heart rate variability (HRV) was investigated in healthy participants and reliability across days in patients with RA and SLE. On three separate days, 41 healthy participants performed DB for: 5, 15, or 30 min. On two separate days, 52 RA or SLE patients performed DB with the dose associated with the highest HRV increase in healthy participants. The HRV was estimated from ECG-recordings recorded prior and post the DB exercises. Increases in dose led to larger HRV-responses. Thirty minutes led to the largest HRV-response. In the RA and SLE patients, this dose increased the HRV-parameters consistently across the two days, indicating reliability. DB increases HRV in healthy participants and RA or SLE patients, which indicates stimulation of the vagus nerve. Of the tested durations, 30 min of DB was the optimal period of stimulation. A potential anti-inflammatory effect of DB exercises should be investigated in future studies.
AB - Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) are associated with autonomic dysfunction, potentially through reduced vagus nerve tone. Vagus nerve stimulation has been proposed as an anti-inflammatory treatment, and it can be performed through deep breathing (DB) exercises. In this study, the dose-response relationship between DB exercises and heart rate variability (HRV) was investigated in healthy participants and reliability across days in patients with RA and SLE. On three separate days, 41 healthy participants performed DB for: 5, 15, or 30 min. On two separate days, 52 RA or SLE patients performed DB with the dose associated with the highest HRV increase in healthy participants. The HRV was estimated from ECG-recordings recorded prior and post the DB exercises. Increases in dose led to larger HRV-responses. Thirty minutes led to the largest HRV-response. In the RA and SLE patients, this dose increased the HRV-parameters consistently across the two days, indicating reliability. DB increases HRV in healthy participants and RA or SLE patients, which indicates stimulation of the vagus nerve. Of the tested durations, 30 min of DB was the optimal period of stimulation. A potential anti-inflammatory effect of DB exercises should be investigated in future studies.
KW - rheumatoid arthritis
KW - systemic lupus erythematosus
KW - deep breathing
KW - heart rate variability
KW - vagus nerve stimulation
KW - neuromodulation
KW - breathing
KW - dose-response
KW - reliability
KW - inflammation
KW - Reproducibility of Results
KW - Heart Rate/physiology
KW - Humans
KW - Healthy Volunteers
KW - Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic/complications
KW - Arthritis, Rheumatoid/therapy
U2 - 10.3390/s22186849
DO - 10.3390/s22186849
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 36146198
SN - 1424-8220
VL - 22
JO - Sensors (Basel, Switzerland)
JF - Sensors (Basel, Switzerland)
IS - 18
M1 - 6849
ER -