Wearable Patch Heart Rate Variability Is an Early Marker of Systemic Inflammation During Experimental Human...

Area of Science:

• Physiology
• Immunology
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Early diagnosis of systemic inflammation is crucial for preventing organ failure and mortality.
• Heart rate variability (HRV) may offer early detection of sympathetic nervous system changes during inflammation.
• Experimental human endotoxemia serves as a model to study in vivo systemic inflammation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the onset and kinetics of HRV changes during experimental human endotoxemia.
• To correlate HRV alterations with inflammatory markers and clinical symptoms.
• To assess the potential of HRV as a non-invasive tool for early inflammation detection.

Main Methods:

• Healthy volunteers received lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or placebo intravenously.
• HRV was measured using a wireless wearable device, calculating LF:HF ratio, RMSSD, and SDNN.
• Plasma cytokine levels, symptoms, vital signs, and HRV parameters were serially assessed.

Main Results:

• The LF:HF ratio significantly increased 65 minutes post-LPS, indicating sympathetic predominance.
• Cytokine levels increased significantly at 60 minutes post-LPS.
• Symptoms and vital sign alterations occurred later, from 90 minutes onwards.

Conclusions:

• Elevations in the LF:HF ratio closely followed cytokine increases and preceded clinical symptoms.
• HRV changes, particularly the LF:HF ratio, are early indicators of systemic inflammation.
• HRV presents a promising non-invasive method for the early detection of inflammatory responses.