Abstract
The present study investigated the activity of the autonomic nervous system (ANS), a major influence in normal physiological function, and its association with unfavorable postmenopausal states in body composition, lipid and/or glucose metabolism, or cardiovascular profiles. Body composition, blood pressure, and blood profiles of lipid and glucose of 175 postmenopausal women were measured. Resting ANS activity was assessed by heart rate variability (HRV) power spectral analysis. To scrutinize the influence of ANS activity levels on postmenopausal obesity-related factors, we divided the subjects into a low group ( < 220 ms2) and a high group ( > 220 ms2), based on the total power of HRV. Low-frequency (P < 0.01) and high-frequency power (P < 0.01) were both significantly lower in the low group. No significant difference was found in age, age at menopause, or years after menopause between the two groups. In contrast, body mass index (P < 0.05), percentages of body fat (P < 0.01), and systolic (P < 0.01) and diastolic (P < 0.01) blood pressure were significantly greater in the low group. As to blood lipid profiles, triglycerides (P < 0.05), total cholesterol (P < 0.05), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (P < 0.05) were significantly higher in the low group. Our findings indicate that reduced sympatho-vagal activity is associated with higher postmenopausal body fat content, blood pressure, and blood lipid concentrations. This study further implies that such autonomic depression could be a crucial risk factor in undermining the health and, ultimately, the quality of life, of postmenopausal women.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Akselrod S, Gordon D, Ubel FA, Shannon DC, Barger AC, Cohen RJ (1981) Power spectrum analysis of heart rate fluctuation: a quantitative probe of beat-to-beat cardiovascular control. Science 213:220–222
Amano M, Kanda T, Ue H, Moritani T (2001) Exercise training and autonomic nervous system activity in obese individuals. Med Sci Sports Exerc 33:1287–1291
Bray GA (1991) Obesity, a disorder of nutrient partitioning: The MONA LISA hypothesis. J Nutr 121:1146–1162
Brockbank CL, Chatterjee F, Bruce SA, Woledge RC (2000) Heart rate and its variability change after the menopause. Exp Physiol 85:327–330
Carr MC (2003) The emergence of the metabolic syndrome with menopause. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 88:2404–2411
Conny MA, Louis AA, Jeroen CW, Gerard BA, Herman P (1993) Heart rate variability. Ann Intern Med 118:436–447
Danev S, Nikolova R, Kerekovska M, Svetoslavov S (1997) Relationship between heart rate variability and hypercholesterolaemia. Cent Eur J Public Health 5:143–146
Davy KP, DeSouza CA, Jones PP, Seals DR (1998) Elevated heart rate variability in physically active young and older adult women. Clin Sci (Lond) 94:579–584
Doncheva NI, Nikolova RI, Danev SG (2003) Overweight, dyslipoproteinemia, and heart rate variability measures. Folia Med (Plovdiv) 45:8–12
Eckberg DL (1997) Sympathovagal balance: A critical appraisal. Circulation 96:3224–3232
Ferrara CM, Lynch NA, Nicklas BJ, Ryan AS, Berman DM (2002) Differences in adipose tissue metabolism between postmenopausal and perimenopausal women. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 87:4166–4170
Hayano J, Sakakibara Y, Yamada M, Ohte N, Fujinami T, Yokoyama K, Watanabe Y, Takata K (1990) Decreased magnitude of heart rate spectral components in coronary artery disease. Its relation to angiographic severity. Circulation 81:1217–1224
Hayashi T, Masuda I, Shinohara M, Moritani T, Nakao K (1994) Autonomic nerve activity during physical exercise and postural change: investigations by power spectral analysis of heart rate variability. Jpn J Biochem Exerc 6:30–37
Hirsch J, Leibel RL, Mackintosh R, Aguirre A (1991) Heart rate variability as a measure of autonomic function during weight change in humans. Am J Physiol 261:R1418–R1423
Jones PP, Snitker S, Skinner JS, Ravussin E (1996) Gender differences in muscle sympathetic nerve activity: effect of body fat distribution. Am J Physiol 270 (Endocrinol Metabo 33) E363–E366
Laederach-Hofmann K, Mussgay L, Ruddel H (2000) Autonomic cardiovascular regulation in obesity. J Endocrinol 164:59–66
Liao D, Sloan RP, Cascio WE, Folsom AR, Liese AD, Evans GW, Cai J, Sharrett AR (1998) Multiple metabolic syndrome is associated with lower heart rate variability. The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study. Diabetes Care 21:2116–2122
Liu CC, Kuo TB, Yang CC (2003) Effects of estrogen on gender-related autonomic differences in humans. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 285:H2188–H2193
Lynch NA, Ryan AS, Berman DM, Sorkin JD, Nicklas BJ (2002) Comparison of VO2max and disease risk factors between perimenopausal and postmenopausal women. Menopause 9:456–462
Matsumoto T, Miyawaki T, Ue H, Kanda T, Zenji C, Moritani T (1999) Autonomic responsiveness to acute cold exposure in obese and non-obese young women. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 23:793–800
Matsumoto T, Miyawaki C, Ue H, Yuasa T, Miyatsuji A, Moritani T (2000) Effects of capsaicin-containing yellow curry sauce on sympathetic nervous system activity and diet-induced thermogenesis in lean and obese young women. J Nutr Sci Vitaminol 46:309–315
Matsumoto T, Miyawaki C, Ue T, Kanda T, Yoshitake Y, Moritani T (2001) Comparison of thermogenic sympathetic response to food intake between obese and non-obese young women. Obes Res 9:78–85
Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, Japan (2004) The national nutrition survey in Japan, 2002. Dai-ichi shuppan publishing, Co Ltd. Tokyo, Japan, pp 52
Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare (2005) Part 3 Investigation of the physical characteristics. The National Health and Nutrition Survey in Japan, 2003. http://www.mhlw.go.jp/bunya/kenkou/eiyou-chosa2–01/pdf/05a.pdf, pp 15
Moritani T, Hayashi T, Shinohara M, Mimasa F, Masuda I, Nakao K (1995) Sympatho-vagal activities of NIDDM patients during exercise as determined by heart rate spectral analysis. In: Kawamori R, Vranic M, Horton ES, Kubota M (eds) Glucose fluxes, exercise and diabetes. Smith-Gordon: Great Britain pp 91–96
Nagai N, Moritani T (2004) Effect of physical activity on autonomic nervous system function in lean and obese children. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 28:27–33
Novak V, Novak P, de Champlain J, Nadeau R (1994) Altered cardiorespiratory transfer in hypertension. Hypertension 23:104–113
Oida E, Moritani T, Yamori Y (1997) Tone-entropy analysis on cardiac recovery after dynamic exercise. J Appl Physiol 82:1794–1801
Pagani M, Lombardi F, Guzzetti S, Rimoldi O, Furlan R, Pizzinelli P, Sandrone G, Malfatto G, Dell’Orto S, Piccaluga E, Turiel M, Baselli G, Cerutti S, Malliani A (1986) Power spectral analysis of heart rate and arterial pressure variabilities as a marker of sympatho-vagal interaction in man and conscious dog. Circ Res 59:178–193
Peterson HR, Rothschild M, Weinberg CR, Fell RD, McLeish KR, Pfeifer MA (1988) Body fat and the activity of the autonomic nervous system. N Engl J Med 318:1077–1083
Petretta M, Bonaduce D, de Filippo E, Mureddu GF, Scalfi L, Marciano F, Bianchi V, Salemme L, de Simone G, Contaldo F (1995) Assessment of cardiac autonomic control by heart period variability in patients with early-onset familial obesity. Eur J Clin Invest 25:826–832
Poehlman ET, Toth MJ, Gardner AW (1995) Changes in energy balance and body composition at menopause: a controlled longitudinal study. Ann Intern Med 123:673–675
Poehlman ET, Toth MJ, Ades PA, Rosen CJ (1997) Menopause-associated changes in plasma lipids, insulin-like growth factor I and blood pressure: a longitudinal study. Eur J Clin Invest 27:322–326
Rompelman O, Coenen AJR, Kitney RI (1977) Measurement of heart-rate variability: part 1 - comparative study of heart-rate variability analysis methods. Med Biol Eng Comput 15:233–239
Scherrer U, Randin D, Tappy L, Vollenweider P, Jequier E, Nicod P (1994) Body fat and sympathetic nerve activity in healthy subjects. Circulation 89:2634–2640
Singh JP, Larson MG, Tsuji H, Evans JC, O’Donnell CJ, Levy D (1998) Reduced heart rate variability and new-onset hypertension: insights into pathogenesis of hypertension: the Framingham Heart Study. Hypertension 32:293–297
Singh JP, Larson MG, O’Donnell CJ, Wilson PF, Tsuji H, Lloyd-Jones DM, Levy D (2000) Association of hyperglycemia with reduced heart rate variability (The Framingham Heart Study). Am J Cardiol 86:309–312
Task force of the European Society of Cardiology, the North American Society of Pacing and Electrophysiology (1996) Heart rate variability. Standard of measurements, physiological interpretation and clinical use. Circulation 93:1043–1065
Tataranni PA, Young JB, Bogardus C, Ravussin E (1997) A low sympathoadrenal activity is associated with body weight gain and development of central adiposity in Pima Indian men. Obes Res 5:341–347
Wise PM, Krajnak KM, Kashon ML (1996) Menopause: the aging of multiple pacemakers. Science 273:67–70
Acknowledgements
We wish to express our appreciation to Dr. Tatsuya Hayashi, Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, for his constructive suggestions and cooperation.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kimura, T., Matsumoto, T., Akiyoshi, M. et al. Body fat and blood lipids in postmenopausal women are related to resting autonomic nervous system activity. Eur J Appl Physiol 97, 542–547 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-006-0207-8
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-006-0207-8