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Effect of Low Dose Atorvastatin Therapy on Baroreflex Sensitivity in Hypertensives

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Abstract

Introduction

Impaired baroreflex function is associated with a shift in autonomic balance towards sympathetic dominance, which may play important role in the development of arterial hypertension and consequent target organ damage.

Aim

To determine the effect of treatment on the cardiovascular autonomic modulation expressed by baroreflex sensitivity (BRS) in hypertensives.

Methods

A total of one hundred fourteen hypertensive patients (58 male/56 female, 65 ± 13 years of age, BMI 30 ± 3.4 kg/m2) were enrolled. Control group of 20 subjects with normal blood pressure (BP) (ten male/ten female, 59 ± 8 years of age, body mass index 28.3 ± 2.5 kg/m2) without any treatment was also studied. BRS and BRSf were determined by the sequence and spectral method: a 5-min on-invasive beat-to-beat recording of blood pressure and R-R interval with use of Collin CBM-7000 monitor, controlled breathing at a frequency of 0.1 Hz.

Results

Significant negative correlation between spontaneous BRS and BP was present in hypertensives (r = −0.52, p < 0.001). All cohort of hypertensive patients had significantly lower BRS than subjects with normal blood pressure (p < 0.05). The greatest decline in BRS values was in hypertensive patients with metabolic syndrome, who had BRS values <5 ms/mmHg. Hypertensives with hypercholesterolaemia on low dose statin therapy (atrovastatin 20 mg) had higher BRS/BRSf values than statin free patients (p < 0.05). Only BRSf not BRS was significantly increased in hypertensives with beta-blockers.

Conclusion

An inverse correlation between blood pressure and BRS is present in hypertensives. BRS and BRSf is higher in low dose statin-treated patients with essential hypertension.

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Acknowledgments

The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. Author would like to thank all participants who volunteered in the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. 2nd Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University and University Hospital, Mickiewiczova 13, 813 69, Bratislava, Slovak Republic

    Denisa Celovska, Peter Sabaka, Andrej Dukat & Ludovit Gaspar

  2. Laboratory of Structural Biology and Proteomics, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Palackeho tr 1/1946, 613 00, Brno, Czech Republic

    Peter Kruzliak

  3. School of Medicine, University of Oviedo and Central University Hospital of Asturias (HUCA), Oviedo, Asturias, Spain

    Luis Rodrigo

  4. Department of Cardiology, East Slovak Institute of Cardiovascular Disease, Pavol Jozef Safarik University, Kosice, Slovak Republic

    Jozef Gonsorcik & Peter Gaspar

  5. Department Pharmacology and Clinical Pharmacology, Medical Faculty, Medical University of Plovdiv, Plovdiv, Bulgaria

    Delian Delev

  6. Institute of Histology and Embryology, Faculty of Medicine, University in Ljubljana, Vrazov trg 2, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Daniel Petrovic

  7. International Center for Cardiovascular Diseases Medicor, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Daniel Petrovic

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  1. Denisa Celovska
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Correspondence to Denisa Celovska.

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The authors declare no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Research involving human participants and/or animals

All procedures followed were in accordance within ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation and with Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2008.

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Informed consent was obtained from all patients for being included in the study.

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Celovska, D., Kruzliak, P., Rodrigo, L. et al. Effect of Low Dose Atorvastatin Therapy on Baroreflex Sensitivity in Hypertensives. High Blood Press Cardiovasc Prev 23, 133–140 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40292-016-0154-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40292-016-0154-3

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