Abstract
OBJECTIVES:to determine if there are differences in cardiac vagal tone values in non-obese healthy, adult men with and without unfavorable anthropometric characteristics.INTRODUCTION:It is well established that obesity reduces cardiac vagal tone. However, it remains unknown if decreases in cardiac vagal tone can be observed early in non-obese healthy, adult men presenting unfavorable anthropometric characteristics.METHODS:Among 1688 individuals assessed between 2004 and 2008, we selected 118 non-obese (BMI <30 kg/m2), healthy men (no known disease conditions or regular use of relevant medications), aged between 20 and 77 years old (42 ± 12-years-old). Their evaluation included clinical examination, anthropometric assessment (body height and weight, sum of six skinfolds, waist circumference and somatotype), a 4-second exercise test to estimate cardiac vagal tone and a maximal cardiopulmonary exercise test to exclude individuals with myocardial ischemia. The same physician performed all procedures.RESULTS:A lower cardiac vagal tone was found for the individuals in the higher quintiles – unfavorable anthropometric characteristics - of BMI (p=0.005), sum of six skinfolds (p=0.037) and waist circumference (p<0.001). In addition, the more endomorphic individuals also presented a lower cardiac vagal tone (p=0.023), while an ectomorphic build was related to higher cardiac vagal tone values as estimated by the 4-second exercise test (r=0.23; p=0.017).CONCLUSIONS:Non-obese and healthy adult men with unfavorable anthropometric characteristics tend to present lower cardiac vagal tone levels. Early identification of this trend by simple protocols that are non-invasive and risk-free, using select anthropometric characteristics, may be clinically useful in a global strategy to prevent cardiovascular disease.
Highlights
More than a billion people around the world are overweight, and approximately 300 million are obese.[1]
This study suggested that non-obese and healthy adult men, as considered by not having any relevant clinical diagnosis and not been in regular use of medications, but who already have unfavorable anthropometric characteristics (UAC), present a significantly lower cardiac vagal tone (CVT) when compared with a comparable group of individuals without these characteristics
It is important to emphasize that these individuals present a reduction in CVT, they are still within the normal range of Cardiac Vagal Index (CVI) values (1,2 to 1,9, based on unpublished results based in a sample of more than 1,800 4sETs carried out in healthy adults in the last 20 years)
Summary
More than a billion people around the world are overweight, and approximately 300 million are obese.[1]. Current evidence supports the hypothesis that CVT varies inversely with indicators of obesity,[15, 16] an analysis of CVT in healthy adult men who are not obese but are within the upper limits of normality for some selected and unfavorable anthropometric characteristics (UAC), such as being overweight, having an increased waist circumference and presenting a predominantly endomorphic somatotype, has not yet been carried out. Our aim was to determine if there are differences in CVT values in nonobese healthy, adult men (BMI
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
