title: Normotensive offspring with non-dipper hypertensive parents have abnormal sleep pattern.
abstract: The objective of this study was to determine whether abnormal microstructure of sleep in non-dipper hypertensive patients was present in their offspring. Subjects included 11 normotensive offspring of non-dipper hypertensive parents (FH + ND), 6 of dipper hypertensive parents (FH + D) and 5 of normotensive parents (Controls). We measured blood pressure beat-to-beat by Finapres and all stages of sleep by polysomnographically recording simultaneously during spontaneous nocturnal sleep. We analysed blood pressure pattern for 4-min long random periods while the subjects were awake and during all stages of sleep; sleep efficiency (SE), sleep latency (SL), delta-sleep latency (delta-SL), REM sleep latency (REM-SL), Stage 1, Stage 2, Stage 3, Stage 4 and REM duration and percentage values, and microstructural aspects of sleep (arousal and microarousal temporization and features). FH + D and controls showed a fall in blood pressure greater than 10% in all stages of NREM sleep and in the FH + ND blood pressure fall in less than 10% of waking values in all NREM stages. REM sleep and heart rate were similar in the three groups during all stages of sleep. FH + ND showed the same number of arousals but more microarousals than FH + D and controls (p < 0.0001). Microarousals induced several stage shifts through lighter sleep. For this reason, FH + ND spent more time in stage 2 than FH + D and controls. In conclusion, offspring of non-dipper hypertension parents showed a greater number of microarousals than the other two groups.
authors.affiliation: Internal Medicine, University of Messina, Italy.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Frisina
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pedullà
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mento
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Morano
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lanuzza
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Buemi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000235:genetics* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology*