A Greater Reduction in High-Frequency Heart Rate Variability to a Psychological Stressor is Associated with Subclinical Coronary and Aortic Calcification in Postmenopausal Women

Objective: Reduced cardiac parasympathetic activity, as indicated by a reduced level of clinic or ambulatory high-frequency heart rate variability (HF-HRV), is associated with an increased risk for atherosclerosis and coronary artery disease. We tested whether the reduction in HF-HRV to a psychological stressor relative to a baseline level is also associated with subclinical coronary or aortic atherosclerosis, as assessed by calcification in these vascular regions. Method Spectral estimates of 0.15 to 0.40 Hz HF-HRV were obtained from 94 postmenopausal women (61–69 years) who engaged in a 3-minute speech-preparation stressor after a 6-minute resting baseline. A median of 282 days later, electron beam tomography (EBT) was used to measure the extent of coronary and aortic calcification. Results In univariate analyses, a greater reduction in HF-HRV from baseline to speech preparation was associated with having more extensive calcification in the coronary arteries (rho = −0.29, p = .03) and in the aorta (rho = −0.22, p = .06). In multivariate analyses that controlled for age, education level, smoking status, hormone therapy use, fasting glucose, high-density lipoproteins, baseline HF-HRV, and the stressor-induced change in respiration rate, a greater stressor-induced reduction in HF-HRV was associated with more calcification in the coronary arteries (B = −1.21, p \u3c .05), and it was marginally associated with more calcification in the aorta (B = −0.92, p = .09). Conclusion In postmenopausal women, a greater reduction in cardiac parasympathetic activity to a psychological stressor from baseline may be an independent correlate of subclinical atherosclerosis, particularly in the coronary arteries