Autonomic Dysfunction in Unaffected First-Degree Relatives of Patients Suffering From Schizophrenia
| Autor: | Heinrich Sauer, Karl-Jürgen Bär, Steffen Schulz, Vikram K. Yeragani, Sandy Berger, Janneke Terhaar, Andreas Voss, Michael Karl Boettger, Maria Metzner, Chaitra T Ramachandraiah |
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| Rok vydání: | 2009 |
| Předmět: |
Adult
Male Vagus Nerve Diseases Sympathetic nervous system medicine.medical_specialty Sympathetic Nervous System Adolescent Offspring Blood Pressure Baroreflex Autonomic Nervous System Electrocardiography Young Adult Heart Rate Internal medicine Heart rate medicine Humans Heart rate variability Genetic Predisposition to Disease First-degree relatives Aged Schizophrenia Paranoid Arrhythmias Cardiac Heart Vagus Nerve Middle Aged medicine.disease Long QT Syndrome Psychiatry and Mental health Autonomic nervous system Death Sudden Cardiac Phenotype medicine.anatomical_structure Endocrinology Autonomic Nervous System Diseases Schizophrenia Multivariate Analysis Cardiology Female Psychology Regular Articles |
| Zdroj: | Schizophrenia Bulletin. 36:1050-1058 |
| ISSN: | 1745-1701 0586-7614 |
| DOI: | 10.1093/schbul/sbp024 |
| Popis: | Recent studies revealed cardiac autonomic dysfunction in patients with acute schizophrenia, which appears to be mainly related to reduced vagal and increased sympathetic modulation. To understand the significance of cardiac autonomic function in patients with schizophrenia, we extended these studies to relatives of patients. In this study, we assessed cardiac autonomic modulation in healthy first-degree relatives of patients with schizophrenia (n = 36) to investigate a putative genetic influence. Data were compared with control subjects matched for age, gender, and physical activity as well as to patients suffering from schizophrenia. First-degree relatives showed an attenuated, yet identical pattern in autonomic dysfunction as patients with decreased vagal modulation of heart rate, decreased baroreflex sensitivity, but no difference in blood pressure variability could be detected. The patients' relatives also showed a similar pattern in regards to QT variability. In addition, the subgroup comparison of offspring vs. siblings showed a significant difference in heart rate variability suggesting a higher degree of heritability in offspring. In conclusion, the pattern of autonomic dysfunction seen in patients and relatives might indicate underlying disease-inherent genetic vulnerability, especially because autonomic parameters are heritable. In addition, these findings may be of value to identify the high-risk group of patients' relatives in regards to serious cardiovascular events so that early preventive measures can be taken. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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