HEALTH NEWS

Study Title:

Heart rate variability reduction is related to a high amount of visceral adiposity in healthy young women.

Study Abstract

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine whether interindividual variation in parasympathetic (cholinergic) and sympathetic (adrenergic) regulation of heart rate (as estimated by frequency components of heart rate variability [HRV]) may be accounted for, in part, by genetic variation in the choline transporter, a component of acetylcholine neurotransmission.

Methods: Resting HRV estimates of high- (HF) and low-frequency (LF) power and LF/HF ratio were determined from electrocardiogram recordings collected continuously over 5 minutes in 413 white individuals of European ancestry (49% men; aged 30-54 years [mean, 44 years]). Subjects were genotyped for a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) located in the 3' untranslated region of the choline transporter gene (CHT1). Frequencies of the alternate CHT1 alleles, labeled G and T, were 76% and 24%.

Results: Compared with GG homozygotes, participants having any T allele had greater HF power (p <.02), lower LF power (p <.02), and lower LF/HF ratios (p <.005). Relative to men, women had lower LF power (p <.001) and lower LF/HF ratios (p <.005).

Conclusions: These findings show that polymorphic variation in the CHT1 gene is associated significantly with interindividual variability in HRV indices related to parasympathetic (cholinergic) activity.

Study Information

PLoS One. 2019 Sep 25;14(9):e0223058. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0223058. PMID: 31553779; PMCID: PMC6760781.

Full Study

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15784779/