Abstract
Centenarians are the paradigm of human extreme longevity and healthy aging, because they have postponed, if not avoided, mayor age-related diseases. The purpose of this study was to investigate potential differences in resting heart rate variability (HRV) between young adults, octogenarians, and centenarians and assess whether HRV variables are predictors of all-cause mortality in centenarians. To this end, three groups of participants: young adults (N = 20; 20.6 ± 2.3 years), octogenarians (N = 18; 84.1 ± 2.6 years), and centenarians (N = 17; 101.9 ± 1.9 years) were monitored for 15 min at rest (seated, without moving or talking) to measure RR intervals, from which HRV was evaluated. Our results showed a clear decrease with age in the main parasympathetic HRV variables, as well as in the standard deviation (SD) of the RR series [SD of normal-to-normal interval (SDNN)] and in low frequency (LF) heart rate (HR) oscillations, although differences between octogenarians and centenarians did not reach statistical significance. In 14 centenarians followed until death, only SDNN showed significant correlation (ρ = 0.536; p = 0.048) with survival prognosis. Additionally, SDNN <19 ms was associated with early mortality (≤1 year) in centenarians (Hazard Ratio = 5.72). In conclusion, HRV indices reflecting parasympathetic outflow as well as SDNN and LF all present an age-related reduction, which could be representative of a natural exhaustion of allostatic systems related to age. Moreover, low SDNN values (<19 ms) could be associated with early mortality in centenarians. HRV seems to play a role in exceptional longevity, which could be accounted for by centenarians’ exposome.
Highlights
Heart rate variability (HRV) is defined as “the oscillation in the interval between consecutive heart beats” (Malik et al, 1996)
The three subjects with incomplete data were females but no significant differences with the 14 subjects included in the sub-analysis were found either in the descriptive variables or in the heart rate variability (HRV) variables
The present study shows that parasympathetic time-domain HRV measures as well as SD of normal-to-normal interval (SDNN) and low frequency (LF) all decrease with age; other variables such as LF and HF powers (LFn) or LF/high frequency (HF) ratio do not indicate differences between age groups
Summary
Heart rate variability (HRV) is defined as “the oscillation in the interval between consecutive heart beats” (Malik et al, 1996). Several studies have reported that HRV decreases with age, suggesting an age-dependent decline in autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity in geriatric patients (Craft and Schwartz, 1995; Piccirillo et al, 1995). The majority of these studies have been mainly performed in older adults up to 80–85 years old, whereas older adults over age 85 have not received much attention. Centenarians escaped the diseases of the pre-antibiotic era and have postponed/avoided aging-related diseases as well as their fatal consequences (Salvioli et al, 2008)
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