Circadian changes in heart rate in unanesthetized normotensive and spontaneously hypertensive rats

Circadian changes in heart rate and heart rate variability were measured in spontaneously hypertensive (SHR) and normotensive (WKY) rats. Electrocardiograms (ECG) were continuously recorded, over a 24 hour period from freely moving conscious rats via three small metallic subcutaneous electrodes which were positioned a week before the recording period. The findings reported here show: 1/ Mean heart rate calculated over 24 hours were lower in both strains than previously reported. This difference probably reflects the lack of anesthesia and minimal stress in the present study. 2/ The timing of the circadian variations in both strains were the same, suggesting that were both entrained to the light-dark cycle. 3/ The 24 hours mean heart rate variability was significantly higher in SHR than in WKY but in each strain it was similar throughout the 24 hours. This suggests that the vagal tone in SHR was higher by a fairly constant amount throughout the light-dark cycle.