title: Sex differences in the prediction of metabolic burden from physiological responses to stress.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Heightened or prolonged physiological responses to stress may contribute to the development or progression of metabolic abnormalities.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study aims to examine the prospective relationships between stress responses and metabolic burden, and to determine whether age and/or sex moderate these relationships.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred ninety-nine healthy men and women (M(age) = 41 ± 11.5) were exposed to four stressors while blood pressure, heart rate, and heart rate variability were obtained. Residual change scores for reactivity (stress - baseline) and recovery (post-stress - baseline) scores were computed. Metabolic burden refers to the number of metabolic parameters for which participants were in the highest quartile (lowest for high-density lipoprotein cholesterol) for their sex. Metabolic burden was reassessed in 136 participants 3 years later.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Greater parasympathetic withdrawal in response to stress was associated with increased metabolic burden, though this was evident mostly in men. In women, dampened autonomic responses to stress were associated with higher metabolic burden.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Cardiac autonomic responses to stress predict future metabolic abnormalities, though the direction of effect differs according to sex.
authors.affiliation: Research Center, Montreal Heart Institute, 5000 Bélanger Street, Montreal, Quebec, H1T 1C8, Canada.
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gentile
authors.forename: Anda Ioana
authors.initials: AI
authors.lastname: Dragomir
authors.forename: Crina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Solomon
authors.forename: Anil
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nigam
authors.forename: Bianca
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: D'Antono
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect / Q000502:physiology; D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology; D001341:Autonomic Nervous System / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000503:physiopathology*