title: High levels of C-reactive protein are associated with reduced vagal modulation and low physical activity in young adults.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between cardiac autonomic control derived from heart rate variability (HRV), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and physical activity (PA) levels measured using accelerometers. A total of 80 healthy university students volunteered to participate in this study (20.56 ± 0.82 years, 1.36 ± 1.5 mg/L of hs-CRP). The participants were divided into groups based on tertiles of hs-CRP. Analysis of covariance adjusted to PA was used to assess group differences in HRV. Associations between hs-CRP, HRV indices and PA were analyzed using Pearson's correlation. The participants at the highest tertile of hs-CRP (tertile 3) had lower cardiac vagal modulation (SDNN, tertile 1=78.05 ± 5.9,tertile 2=82.43 ± 5.9,tertile 3=56.03 ± 6.1; SD1, tertile 1=61.27 ± 5.3, tertile 2=62.93 ± 5.4, tertile 3=40.03 ± 5.5). In addition, vagal indices were inversely correlated with hs-CRP but positively correlated with PA (SDNN r=-0.320, SD1 r=-0.377; SDNN r=0.304, SD1 r=0.299; P<0.05). Furthermore, the most physically active subjects had lower levels of hs-CRP and the highest levels of vagal modulation.
authors.affiliation: Research Center in Physical Activity, Health and Leisure, Faculty of Sport, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal. luisasoaresmiranda@hotmail.com
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Soares-Miranda
authors.forename: C E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Negrao
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Antunes-Correa
authors.forename: T S
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Nobre
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vale
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mota
mesh_terms: D001341:Autonomic Nervous System / Q000502:physiology*; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000032:analysis / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology*; D014630:Vagus Nerve / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D002097:C-Reactive Protein