title: Respiratory modulation of cardiac vagal tone in Lyme disease.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To conduct the first systematic test of the hypothesis that modulation of cardiac vagal tone is impaired in Lyme disease.
  
  
  METHODS
  The response of cardiac vagal tone to respiratory modulation was measured in 18 serologically positive Lyme disease patients and in 18 controls.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The two groups were matched in respect of age, sex, body mass, mean arterial blood pressure, mean resting heart rate and mean resting cardiac vagal tone. The mean maximum cardiac vagal tone during deep breathing in the Lyme disease patients [11.2 (standard error 1.3)] was lower than in the matched controls [16.5 (standard error 1.7); P = 0.02].
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Respiratory modulation of cardiac vagal tone is impaired in Lyme disease, which suggests that Lyme disease may directly affect the vagus nerve or the brainstem.
authors: Basant K Puri, Department of Medicine, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital, London W12 0HS, United Kingdom.
authors: Basant K
authors: BK
authors: Puri
authors: Basant K Puri, Department of Medicine, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital, London W12 0HS, United Kingdom.
authors: Mussadiq
authors: M
authors: Shah
authors: Basant K Puri, Department of Medicine, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital, London W12 0HS, United Kingdom.
authors: Jean A
authors: JA
authors: Monro
authors: Basant K Puri, Department of Medicine, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital, London W12 0HS, United Kingdom.
authors: Michele C
authors: MC
authors: Kingston
authors: Basant K Puri, Department of Medicine, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital, London W12 0HS, United Kingdom.
authors: Peter Oo
authors: PO
authors: Julu
keywords: Cardiac vagal tone; Lyme disease