Can body mass index identify cardiac autonomic dysfunction in women who are apparently healthy?

We investigated the extent to which obesity could identify autonomic dysfunction of heart control in a cross-sectional study with 65 women (aged 18-45 years), categorized as eutrophic, overweight or obese. We collected anthropometric measures and measures of heart rate variability (HRV) between March 2015 and March 2017. Low frequency in normalized units (LF(nu)) over 46 was considered a marker of autonomic imbalance and high frequency in normalized units (HF(nu)) below 38 a marker of depressed vagal modulation. Overweight (mean difference MΔHF(nu) = -13.11 [95% confidence interval (CI) of difference, -25.88, -0.34], Hedges's g = 0.65, common language effect size (CL) = 68.1%) and obese (MΔHF(nu) = -21.22 [95% CI, -31.89, -10.55], Hedges's g = 1.17, CL = 79.2%) women presented depressed vagal modulation compared to eutrophic women. Autonomic imbalance increased as body mass index increased (eutrophic-to-overweight MΔLF(nu) = 13.06 [95% CI, 1.65, 24.47], g = 0.65, CL = 67.9%, and overweight-to-obese MΔLF(nu) = 21.07 [95% CI, 10.32, 31.82], g = 1.15, CL 78.9%). The odds ratio for depressed HF(nu) among overweight women was 2.36 (95% CI 0.77, 7.29) and 2.18 among obese women (95% CI 0.79, 5.99), as well as 9.17 (95% CI 2.62, 32.04) and 17.39 for increased LF(nu) (95% CI 2.13, 141.76), respectively. The parasympathetic activity is diminished and autonomic imbalance of the cardiac control increased with increasing BMI categories.

Different types of physical activity on inflammatory biomarkers in women with or without metabolic disorders: a systematic review.

Overwhelming data support the relationship between physical inactivity and inflammatory processes underlying metabolic disorders. The aim of this review was to assess critically the body of evidence for the relationships between exercise protocols and levels of inflammatory biomarkers in women. Systematic literature searches using PubMed Medline, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Web of Science, LILACS, and SciELO of publications from 1993 to January 2012 were conducted using the following keywords: inflammation, cytokine, exercise, physical training, aerobic training, cardiovascular training, strength training, resistance training, interval training, cardiac rehabilitation, and therapeutic lifestyle modification/management. Three studies reported no significant changes in inflammatory status, one documented an increase in inflammatory biomarkers, and 12 articles reported decreased inflammatory biomarkers associated with exercise. Secondary lifestyle characteristics, such as strenuous physical labor or smoking, were correlated with levels of inflammatory biomarkers. Integrative interventions, including diet, moderate aerobic (60% to 80% of maximum heart rate, or 50% to 60% of VO2max) and circuit resistance training (8 to 10 exercises, 8 to 12 repetitions), health education, and counseling, used together, appeared to be effective strategies to improve inflammatory biomarkers in women.