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THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RESTING HEART RATE VARIABILITY AND FASTING GLUCOSE

Abstract

Abigail Marmurowicz, Andre Canino, Gabe Wilner, Pedro Chung, Keilah Vaughan, Robert Buresh, FACSM, Cherilyn McLester, Brian Klisczcewicz, FACSM. Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, GA.

Background: Resting heart rate variability (HRV) is a non-invasive indicator of autonomic nervous system (ANS) function which translates to many physiological regulations. One regulation may be resting metabolism, though this relationship is not fully understood. The purpose of this study was to quantify the relationship between resting markers of HRV and oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) response. Methods: Ten healthy individuals (6 males, 4 females, ages 23±2 years) volunteered in this study. Participants were asked to visit the lab 3 times in a 10-day span. On each visit, participants’ body composition and resting heart rate via electrocardiogram (ECG) were collected (Finapres, NOVA). Participants were then placed in a supine position in a dimly lit room for a 10-minute HRV recording. The final five minutes of the tracing was transferred to the online software Kubios HRV Standard (version 3.5.1) for analysis of HRV metrics: root mean square of successive differences (RMSSD), standard deviation of normal-to-normal sinus beats (SDNN), high frequency (HF), and low frequency (LF). Immediately following, participants underwent a 2-hour OGTT, consuming a 75-gram glucose (GLU) beverage. GLU measures were obtained via finger stick before, 30-minutes post, 1-hour post, and 2-hours post OGTT. SPSS (version 28.0.1.1) was used, and alpha was set to 0.05. Results: A two-tailed bivariate Pearson’s correlation was used to determine relationships between our markers of interest. The Pearson correlation showed that when compared to fasting GLU, the following were correlated to HRV: RMSSD (r=0.515, p=0.008), SDNN (r=.429, p=0.007), HF (r=.563, p=0.003), LF (r=0.410, p=0.042). At 30 minutes post, SDNN (r=0.397, p=0.033), LF (r=0.415, p=0.039). Conclusions: All metrics of resting HRV correlated strongest with fasting glucose. This relationship was not apparent at subsequent time points. Higher ANS activity equated to higher fasting GLU levels. These findings may indicate that higher acting ANS function may better keep fasting GLU to normal levels, i.e. between 80-100 mg·dl-1.

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