Abstract
Congestive heart failure is associated with a loss of circadian and
short-term variability in blood pressure and heart rate. In order
to assess the contribution of elevated cardiac sympathetic activity
to the disturbed cardiovascular regulation, we monitored blood pressure
and heart rate in mice with cardiac overexpression of the beta1-adrenoceptor
prior to the development of overt heart failure. Telemetry transmitters
for continuous monitoring of blood pressure and heart rate were implanted
in 8 to 9-week-old wildtype and transgenic mice, derived from crosses
of heterozygous transgenic (line beta1TG4) and wildtype mice. Cardiovascular
circadian patterns were analyzed under baseline conditions and during
treatment with propranolol (500mg/L in drinking water). Short-term
variability was assessed by spectral analysis of beat-to-beat data
sampled for 30min at four circadian times. Transgenic beta1TG4 mice
showed an increase in 24h heart rate, while blood pressure was not
different from wildtype controls. Circadian patterns in blood pressure
and heart were preserved in beta1TG4 mice. Addition of propranolol
to the animals' drinking water led to a reduction in heart rate and
its 24 h variation in both strains of mice. Short-term variability
in blood pressure was not different between wildtype and beta1TG4
mice, but heart rate variability in the transgenic animals showed
a rightward shift of the high-frequency component in the nocturnal
activity period, suggesting an increase in respiratory frequency.
In conclusion, the present study shows that both the circadian and
the short-term regulation of blood pressure and heart rate are largely
preserved in young, nonfailing beta1-transgenic mice. This finding
suggests that the loss of blood pressure and heart rate variability
observed in human congestive heart failure cannot be attributed solely
to sympathetic overactivity but reflects the loss of adrenergic responsiveness
to changes in the activity of the autonomic nervous system.
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