Pharmacopsychiatry 2017; 50(05): 213-227
DOI: 10.1055/s-0037-1606407
Abstracts
Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York

Blunted heart rate variability during sleep in drug-naive major depression is related to poor sleep

T Mikoteit
1   Psychiatric Services of Solothurn and University of Basel, Clinic for Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Solothurn, Switzerland
,
F Farronato
2   Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Department of Clinical Research, Munich, Germany
,
V Spoormaker
2   Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Department of Clinical Research, Munich, Germany
,
A Steiger
2   Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Department of Clinical Research, Munich, Germany
,
M Pawlowski
3   Klinikum Ingolstadt, Centre of Mental Health, Ingolstadt, Germany
› Author Affiliations
Further Information

Publication History

Publication Date:
12 September 2017 (online)

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Background:

Blunted heart rate variability (HRV) both, in wake-time and in sleep, is a consistent finding in major depression [1] and in primary insomnia. As decreased HRV reflects a dysbalanced activity of the autonomous nervous system (ANS), we expected, that in major depression blunted HRV also correlates with increased subjective and objective sleep problems.

Methods:

35 healthy subjects and 34 depressed patients participated in this study. Sleep was objectively assessed with polysomnography containing EEG and ECG recordings. HRV was assessed in three artefact-free 5-min segments of each of the sleep stages REM, N2 and N3 sleep. The subjective sleep quality was assessed with the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI).

Results:

HRV absolute frequency power was decreased over all sleep stages and frequency bands in depressed patients compared to controls. Blunted HRV, especially in REM sleep measures, was correlated with decreased sleep efficiency and total sleep time, measured both with objective sleep EEG and with subjective PSQI assessment.

Conclusions:

We replicated our former findings that HRV measured in sleep discriminated depressed patients from healthy controls. The pattern of results confirmed our expectation, that blunting of HRV correlated to both, subjective and objective sleep problems, in depression.

References:

[1] Pawlowski MA,..., Mikoteit T. J Psychiatr Res. 2017; 92:64 – 73.