Spectral analysis of intercycle heart fluctuations in the diethyl-ether-anaesthetized or pithed rat treated with...

1. Within the context of neural regulation of the activity of sinus node pacemaker cells, the study of heart rate variability, as explored in the frequency domain by spectral analysis, was proposed about 15 years ago as a quantitative tool for the evaluation of short-term autonomic cardiovascular control. It has since been postulated that the two main oscillations observed, one at low and the other at high frequency, may respectively be markers of sympathetic vs. vagal efferent cardiac activity, and that the low- and high-frequency signals may reflect a reciprocal or 'push-pull' relationship between sympathetic and parasympathetic control. 2. In our power spectra assessment, ECG R-R intervals were submitted to fast Fourier transformation analysis in order to study the mechanisms underlying the control of heart beats in rats. Data were acquired in conditions of steady arterial blood pressure and cardiac and respiratory activity (spontaneous or artificially stimulated) in diethyl-ether-anaesthetized and pithed rats, as well as in a group of control rats, all in the presence and absence of l-hyoscyamine. 3. With increasing doses of the parasympathetic antagonist, the fractal dimension of the time-series structure remained stable in most cases. The low-frequency spectral component narrowed with increasing drug doses and the high-frequency band underwent either no, or only very slight, changes. 4. In these rodent assays, the low- and high-frequency signals cannot be interpreted as a push-pull relationship between sympathetic and parasympathetic control.