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Exercise training improves autonomic profiles in patients with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease
Lhassan El Mhandi1, Vincent Pichot, Paul Calmels
1Exercise Physiology Laboratory, EA 4338, Jean Monnet University, Saint-Etienne, France. l.elmhandi@univ-st-etienne.fr
Introduction:
The effect of an interval exercise training (ITE) program on heart rate variability (HRV) was studied in 8 patients with Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease and 8 healthy controls.
Methods:
At baseline, all subjects underwent ambulatory 24-hour Holter electrocardiographic (ECG) monitoring to evaluate HRV. HRV analysis was repeated on CMT patients after they completed a 24-week ITE program on a cycle ergometer.
Results:
Before exercise, all HRV indices were lower in patients compared with controls, and the difference reached statistical significance for pNN50 (percent of differences between adjacent R-R intervals exceeding 50 ms). After ITE, time- and frequency-domain indices were significantly improved, particularly at night (+8% mean R-R interval, +95% pNN50, 52% reduction in low/high-frequency ratio). We observed significant increases in some of the time and frequency parameters, and values sometimes exceeded those of controls at baseline.
Conclusions:
Our results suggest that ITE improves HRV modulation in CMT patients by enhancing parasympathetic activity.
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