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At least 379 records · Page 21

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NASA NTRS2002

Human muscle sympathetic nerve activity and plasma noradrenaline kinetics in space

Astronauts returning from space have reduced red blood cell masses, hypovolaemia and orthostatic intolerance, marked by greater cardio-acceleration during standing than before spaceflight, and in some, orthostatic hypotension and presyncope. Adaptation of the sympathetic nervous system occurring during spaceflight may be responsible for these postflight alterations. We tested the hypotheses that exposure to microgravity reduces sympathetic neural outflow and impairs sympathetic neural responses to orthostatic stress. We measured heart rate, photoplethysmographic finger arterial pressure, peroneal nerve muscle sympathetic activity and plasma noradrenaline spillover and clearance, in male astronauts before, during (flight day 12 or 13) and after the 16 day Neurolab space shuttle mission. Measurements were made during supine rest and orthostatic stress, as simulated on Earth and in space by 7 min periods of 15 and 30 mmHg lower body suction. Mean (+/- S.E.M.) heart rates before lower body suction were similar pre-flight and in flight. Heart rate responses to -30 mmHg were greater in flight (from 56 +/- 4 to 72 +/- 4 beats min(-1)) than pre-flight (from 56 +/- 4 at rest to 62 +/- 4 beats min(-1), P < 0.05). Noradrenaline spillover and clearance were increased from pre-flight levels during baseline periods and during lower body suction, both in flight (n = 3) and on post-flight days 1 or 2 (n = 5, P < 0.05). In-flight baseline sympathetic nerve activity was increased above pre-flight levels (by 10-33 %) in the same three subjects in whom noradrenaline spillover and clearance were increased. The sympathetic response to 30 mmHg lower body suction was at pre-flight levels or higher in each subject (35 pre-flight vs. 40 bursts min(-1) in flight). No astronaut experienced presyncope during lower body suction in space (or during upright tilt following the Neurolab mission). We conclude that in space, baseline sympathetic neural outflow is increased moderately and sympathetic responses to lower body suction are exaggerated. Therefore, notwithstanding hypovolaemia, astronauts respond normally to simulated orthostatic stress and are able to maintain their arterial pressures at normal levels.

STS-90 Shuttle Project↗

NASA NTRS2002

Baroreflex modulation of sympathetic nerve activity to muscle in heat-stressed humans

To identify whether whole body heating alters arterial baroreflex control of muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA), MSNA and beat-by-beat arterial blood pressure were recorded in seven healthy subjects during acute hypotensive and hypertensive stimuli in both normothermic and heat stress conditions. Whole body heating significantly increased sublingual temperature (P < 0.01), MSNA (P < 0.01), heart rate (P < 0.01), and skin blood flow (P < 0.001), whereas mean arterial blood pressure did not change significantly (P > 0.05). During both normothermic and heat stress conditions, MSNA increased and then decreased significantly when blood pressure was lowered and then raised via intravenous bolus infusions of sodium nitroprusside and phenylephrine HCl, respectively. The slope of the relationship between MSNA and diastolic blood pressure during heat stress (-128.3 +/- 13.9 U x beats(-1) x mmHg(-1)) was similar (P = 0.31) with normothermia (-140.6 +/- 21.1 U x beats(-1) x mmHg(-1)). Moreover, no significant change in the slope of the relationship between heart rate and systolic blood pressure was observed. These data suggest that arterial baroreflex modulation of MSNA and heart rate are not altered by whole body heating, with the exception of an upward shift of these baroreflex curves to accommodate changes in these variables that occur with whole body heating.

NASA Discipline Cardiopulmonary↗

NASA NTRS2001

Sequential modulation of cardiac autonomic control induced by cardiopulmonary and arterial baroreflex mechanisms

BACKGROUND: Nonhypotensive lower body negative pressure (LBNP) induces a reflex increase in forearm vascular resistance and muscle sympathetic neural discharge without affecting mean heart rate. We tested the hypothesis that a reflex change of the autonomic modulation of heartbeat might arise during low intensity LBNP without changes of mean heart rate. METHODS AND RESULTS: Ten healthy volunteers underwent plasma catecholamine evaluation and a continuous recording of ECG, finger blood pressure, respiratory activity, and central venous pressure (CVP) during increasing levels of LBNP up to -40 mm Hg. Spectrum and cross-spectrum analyses assessed the changes in the spontaneous variability of R-R interval, respiration, systolic arterial pressure (SAP), and CVP and in the gain (alpha(LF)) of arterial baroreflex control of heart rate. Baroreceptor sensitivity was also evaluated by the SAP/R-R spontaneous sequences technique. LBNP began decreasing significantly: CVP at -10, R-R interval at -20, SAP at -40, and the indexes alpha(LF) and baroreceptor sensitivity at -30 and -20 mm Hg, compared with baseline conditions. Plasma norepinephrine increased significantly at -20 mm Hg. The normalized low-frequency component of R-R variability (LF(R-R)) progressively increased and was significantly higher than in the control condition at -15 mm Hg. CONCLUSIONS: Nonhypotensive LBNP elicits a reflex increase of cardiac sympathetic modulation, as evaluated by LF(R-R), which precedes the changes in the hemodynamics and in the indexes of arterial baroreflex control.

Non-NASA Center↗

NASA NTRS2001

L-NAME, a nitric oxide synthase inhibitor, as a potential countermeasure to post-suspension hypotension in rats

A large number of astronauts returning from spaceflight experience orthostatic hypotension. This hypotension may be due to overproduction of vasodilatory mediators, such as nitric oxide (NO) and prostaglandins. To evaluate the role of the NO synthase inhibitor NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) as a countermeasure against the post-suspension reduction in mean arterial pressure (MAP), we assessed the cardiovascular responses and vascular reactivity to 7-day 30 degrees tail-suspension and a subsequent 6 hr post-suspension period in conscious rats. After a pre-suspension reading, direct MAP and heart rate (HR) were measured daily and every 2 hrs post-suspension. The NO synthase inhibitor L-NAME (20 mg/kg, i.v.), or saline, were administered after the 7th day reading prior to release from suspension and at 2 and 4 hrs post-suspension. At 6 hrs post-suspension, vascular reactivity was assessed. While MAP did not change during the suspension period, it was reduced post-suspension. Heart rate was not significantly altered. L-NAME administration reversed the post-suspension reduction in MAP. In addition, the baroreflex sensitivity for heart rate was modified by L-NAME. Thus, the post-suspension reduction in MAP may be due to overproduction of NO and altered baroreflex activity.

NASA Discipline Cardiopulmonary↗

NASA NTRS2001

Absence of arterial baroreflex modulation of skin sympathetic activity and sweat rate during whole-body heating in humans

1. Prior findings suggest that baroreflexes are capable of modulating skin blood flow, but the effects of baroreceptor loading/unloading on sweating are less clear. Therefore, this project tested the hypothesis that pharmacologically induced alterations in arterial blood pressure in heated humans would lead to baroreflex-mediated changes in both skin sympathetic nerve activity (SSNA) and sweat rate. 2. In seven subjects mean arterial blood pressure was lowered (approximately 8 mmHg) and then raised (approximately 13 mmHg) by bolus injections of sodium nitroprusside and phenylephrine, respectively. Moreover, in a separate protocol, arterial blood pressure was reduced via steady-state administration of sodium nitroprusside. In both normothermia and heat-stress conditions the following responses were monitored: sublingual and mean skin temperatures, heart rate, beat-by-beat blood pressure, skin blood flow (laser-Doppler flowmetry), local sweat rate and SSNA (microneurography from peroneal nerve). 3. Whole-body heating increased skin and sublingual temperatures, heart rate, cutaneous blood flow, sweat rate and SSNA, but did not change arterial blood pressure. Heart rate was significantly elevated (from 74 +/- 3 to 92 +/- 4 beats x min(-1); P < 0.001) during bolus sodium nitroprusside-induced reductions in blood pressure, and significantly reduced (from 92 +/- 4 to 68 +/- 4 beats x min(-1); P < 0.001) during bolus phenylephrine-induced elevations in blood pressure, thereby demonstrating normal baroreflex function in these subjects. 4. Neither SSNA nor sweat rate was altered by rapid (bolus infusion) or sustained (steady-state infusion) changes in blood pressure regardless of the thermal condition. 5. These data suggest that SSNA and sweat rate are not modulated by arterial baroreflexes in normothermic or moderately heated individuals.

Clinical Trial↗

NASA NTRS1999

Fractal fluctuations in cardiac time series

Human heart rate, controlled by complex feedback mechanisms, is a vital index of systematic circulation. However, it has been shown that beat-to-beat values of heart rate fluctuate continually over a wide range of time scales. Herein we use the relative dispersion, the ratio of the standard deviation to the mean, to show, by systematically aggregating the data, that the correlation in the beat-to-beat cardiac time series is a modulated inverse power law. This scaling property indicates the existence of long-time memory in the underlying cardiac control process and supports the conclusion that heart rate variability is a temporal fractal. We argue that the cardiac control system has allometric properties that enable it to respond to a dynamical environment through scaling.

NASA Discipline Cardiopulmonary↗

NASA NTRS1998

Effects of 12 days exposure to simulated microgravity on central circulatory hemodynamics in the rhesus monkey

Central circulatory hemodynamic responses were measured before and during the initial 9 days of a 12-day 10 degrees head-down tilt (HDT) in 4 flight-sized juvenile rhesus monkeys who were surgically instrumented with a variety of intrathoracic catheters and blood flow sensors to assess the effects of simulated microgravity on central circulatory hemodynamics. Each subject underwent measurements of aortic and left ventricular pressures, and aortic flow before and during HDT as well as during a passive head-up postural test before and after HDT. Heart rate, stroke volume, cardiac output, and left ventricular end-diastolic pressure were measured, and dP/dt and left ventricular elastance was calculated from hemodynamic measurements. The postural test consisted of 5 min of supine baseline control followed by 5 minutes of 90 degrees upright tilt (HUT). Heart rate, stroke volume, cardiac output, and left ventricular end-diastolic pressure showed no consistent alterations during HDT. Left ventricular elastance was reduced in all animals throughout HDT, indicating that cardiac compliance was increased. HDT did not consistently alter left ventricular +dP/dt, indicating no change in cardiac contractility. Heart rate during the post-HDT HUT postural test was elevated compared to pre-HDT while post-HDT cardiac output was decreased by 52% as a result of a 54% reduction in stroke volume throughout HUT. Results from this study using an instrumented rhesus monkey suggest that exposure to microgravity may increase ventricular compliance without alternating cardiac contractility. Our project supported the notion that an invasively-instrumented animal model should be viable for use in spaceflight cardiovascular experiments to assess potential changes in myocardial function and cardiac compliance.

NASA Discipline Cardiopulmonary↗

NASA NTRS1988

Nonlinear dynamics in cardiac conduction

Electrical conduction in the heart shows many phenomena familiar from nonlinear dynamics. Among these phenomena are multiple basins of attraction, phase locking, and perhaps period-doubling bifurcations and chaos. We describe a simple cellular-automation model of electrical conduction which simulates normal conduction patterns in the heart as well as a wide range of disturbances of heart rhythm. In addition, we review the application of percolation theory to the analysis of the development of complex, self-sustaining conduction patterns.

NASA Discipline Cardiopulmonary↗

NASA NTRS2000

Physiological basis for human autonomic rhythms

Oscillations of arterial pressures, heart periods, and muscle sympathetic nerve activity have been studied intensively in recent years to explore otherwise obscure human neurophysiological mechanisms. The best-studied rhythms are those occurring at breathing frequencies. Published evidence indicates that respiratory fluctuations of muscle sympathetic nerve activity and electrocardiographic R-R intervals result primarily from the action of a central 'gate' that opens during expiration and closes during inspiration. Parallel respiratory fluctuations of arterial pressures and R-R intervals are thought to be secondary to arterial baroreflex physiology: changes in systolic pressure provoke changes in the R-R interval. However, growing evidence suggests that these parallel oscillations result from the influence of respiration on sympathetic and vagal-cardiac motoneurones rather than from baroreflex physiology. There is a rapidly growing literature on the use of mathematical models of low- and high-frequency (respiratory) R-R interval fluctuations in characterizing instantaneous 'sympathovagal balance'. The case for this approach is based primarily on measurements made with patients in upright tilt. However, the strong linear relation between such measures as the ratio of low- to high-frequency R-R interval oscillations and the angle of the tilt reflects exclusively the reductions of the vagal (high-frequency) component. As the sympathetic component does not change in tilt, the low- to high-frequency R-R interval ratio provides no proof that sympathetic activity increases. Moreover, the validity of extrapolating from measurements performed during upright tilt to measurements during supine rest has not been established. Nonetheless, it is clear that measures of heart rate variability provide important prognostic information in patients with cardiovascular diseases. It is not known whether reduced heart rate variability is merely a marker for the severity of disease or a measurement that identifies functional reflex abnormalities contributing to terminal dysrhythmias.

Review, Tutorial↗

NASA NTRS1999

Sympathetic adaptations to one-legged training

The purpose of the present study was to determine the effect of leg exercise training on sympathetic nerve responses at rest and during dynamic exercise. Six men were trained by using high-intensity interval and prolonged continuous one-legged cycling 4 day/wk, 40 min/day, for 6 wk. Heart rate, mean arterial pressure (MAP), and muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA; peroneal nerve) were measured during 3 min of upright dynamic one-legged knee extensions at 40 W before and after training. After training, peak oxygen uptake in the trained leg increased 19 +/- 2% (P < 0.01). At rest, heart rate decreased from 77 +/- 3 to 71 +/- 6 beats/min (P < 0.01) with no significant changes in MAP (91 +/- 7 to 91 +/- 11 mmHg) and MSNA (29 +/- 3 to 28 +/- 1 bursts/min). During exercise, both heart rate and MAP were lower after training (108 +/- 5 to 96 +/- 5 beats/min and 132 +/- 8 to 119 +/- 4 mmHg, respectively, during the third minute of exercise; P < 0.01). MSNA decreased similarly from rest during the first 2 min of exercise both before and after training. However, MSNA was significantly less during the third minute of exercise after training (32 +/- 2 to 22 +/- 3 bursts/min; P < 0.01). This training effect on MSNA remained when MSNA was expressed as bursts per 100 heartbeats. Responses to exercise in five untrained control subjects were not different at 0 and 6 wk. These results demonstrate that exercise training prolongs the decrease in MSNA during upright leg exercise and indicates that attenuation of MSNA to exercise reported with forearm training also occurs with leg training.

Non-NASA Center↗

NASA NTRS1999

System identification of closed-loop cardiovascular control mechanisms: diabetic autonomic neuropathy

We applied cardiovascular system identification (CSI) to characterize closed-loop cardiovascular regulation in patients with diabetic autonomic neuropathy (DAN). The CSI method quantitatively analyzes beat-to-beat fluctuations in noninvasively measured heart rate, arterial blood pressure (ABP), and instantaneous lung volume (ILV) to characterize four physiological coupling mechanisms, two of which are autonomically mediated (the heart rate baroreflex and the coupling of respiration, measured in terms of ILV, to heart rate) and two of which are mechanically mediated (the coupling of ventricular contraction to the generation of the ABP wavelet and the coupling of respiration to ABP). We studied 37 control and 60 diabetic subjects who were classified as having minimal, moderate, or severe DAN on the basis of standard autonomic tests. The autonomically mediated couplings progressively decreased with increasing severity of DAN, whereas the mechanically mediated couplings were essentially unchanged. CSI identified differences between the minimal DAN and control groups, which were indistinguishable based on the standard autonomic tests. CSI may provide a powerful tool for assessing DAN.

Non-NASA Center↗

NASA NTRS1997

Electrical alternans during rest and exercise as predictors of vulnerability to ventricular arrhythmias

This investigation was performed to evaluate the feasibility of detecting repolarization alternans with the heart rate elevated with a bicycle exercise protocol. Sensitive spectral signal-processing techniques are able to detect beat-to-beat alternation of the amplitude of the T wave, which is not visible on standard electrocardiogram. Previous animal and human investigations using atrial or ventricular pacing have demonstrated that T-wave alternans is a marker of vulnerability to ventricular arrhythmias. Using a spectral analysis technique incorporating noise reduction signal-processing software, we evaluated electrical alternans at rest and with the heart rate elevated during a bicycle exercise protocol. In this study we defined optimal criteria for electrical alternans to separate patients from those without inducible arrhythmias. Alternans and signal-averaged electrocardiographic results were compared with the results of vulnerability to ventricular arrhythmias as defined by induction of sustained ventricular tachycardia or fibrillation at electrophysiologic evaluation. In 27 patients alternans recorded at rest and with exercise had a sensitivity of 89%, specificity of 75%, and overall clinical accuracy of 80% (p <0.003). In this patient population the signal-averaged electrocardiogram was not a significant predictor of arrhythmia vulnerability. This is the first study to report that repolarization alternans can be detected with heart rate elevated with a bicycle exercise protocol. Alternans measured using this technique is an accurate predictor of arrhythmia inducibility.

Clinical Trial↗

NASA NTRS1994

Comparison of cardiovascular function during the early hours of bed rest and space flight

This paper reviews the cardiovascular responses of six healthy male subjects to 6 hours in a 5 degrees head-down bed rest model of weightlessness, and compares these responses to those obtained when subjects were positioned in head-up tilts of 10 degrees, 20 degrees, and 42 degrees, simulating 1/6, 1/3, and 2/3 G, respectively. Thoracic fluid index, cardiac output, stroke volume, and peak flow were measured using impedance cardiography. Cardiac dimensions and volumes were determined from two-dimensional guided M-mode echocardiograms in the left lateral decubitus position at 0, 2, 4, and 6 hours. Cardiovascular response to a stand test were compared before and after bed rest. The impedance values were related to tilt angle for the first 2 hours of tilt; however, after 3 hours, at all four angles, values began to converge, indicating that cardiovascular homeostatic mechanisms seek a common adapted state, regardless of effective gravity level (tilt angle) up to 2/3 G. Echocardiography revealed that left ventricular end-diastolic and end-systolic volume, stroke volume, ejection fraction, heart rate, and cardiac output had returned to control values by hour 6 for all tilt angles. The lack of a significant immediate change in left ventricular end-diastolic volume, despite decrements in stroke volume (P < .05) and heart rate (not significant), indicates that multiple factors may play a role in the adaptation to simulated hypogravity. The echocardiography data indicated that no angle of tilt, whether head-down or head-up for 4 to 6 hours, mimicked exactly the changes in cardiovascular function recorded after 4 to 6 hours of space flight. Changes in left ventricular end-diastolic volume during space flight and tilt may be similar, but follow a different time course. Nevertheless, head-down tilt at 5 degrees for 6 hours mimics some (stroke volume, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, mean arterial blood pressure, and total resistance), but not all, of the changes occurring in an equivalent time of space flight. The magnitude of the change in the mean heart rate response to standing was greater after six hours of tilt at -5 degrees or 10 degrees. Thus, results from the stand test after 6 hours of bed rest at -5 degrees and 10 degrees, but not at 20 degrees or 42 degrees, are similar to those obtained after space flight.

Space Flight↗

NASA NTRS1995

Override of spontaneous respiratory pattern generator reduces cardiovascular parasympathetic influence

We investigated the effects of voluntary control of breathing on autonomic function in cardiovascular regulation. Variability in heart rate was compared between 5 min of spontaneous and controlled breathing. During controlled breathing, for 5 min, subjects voluntarily reproduced their own spontaneous breathing pattern (both rate and volume on a breath-by-breath basis). With the use of this experimental design, we could unmask the effects of voluntary override of the spontaneous respiratory pattern generator on autonomic function in cardiovascular regulation without the confounding effects of altered respiratory pattern. Results from 10 subjects showed that during voluntary control of breathing, mean values of heart rate and blood pressure increased, whereas fractal and spectral powers in heart rate in the respiratory frequency region decreased. End-tidal PCO2 was similar during spontaneous and controlled breathing. These results indicate that the act of voluntary control of breathing decreases the influence of the vagal component, which is the principal parasympathetic influence in cardiovascular regulation.

NASA Discipline Cardiopulmonary↗

NASA NTRS2021

Chapter 6: Evaluation of Cardiothermal Model Prediction of Simulated Lunar Extravehicular Activity

Fewer than 20 extravehicular activities were completed during the Apollo program. The lunar environment has consistent unknowns to address particularly that of suited performance in partial gravity. The moon has altered gravity that is 1/6th that of Earth’s. This study is focused to investigate validation of the regression techniques identified in subsequent chapters and look to improve predictive outcomes during simulated lunar EVA tasks. Heart rate predictions of metabolic energy expenditure are investigated to predict workload throughout simulated lunar EVA conducted in the active response gravity offload system (ARGOS) with in the NASA Mark III space suit. Heart rate variability metrics are utilized to identify periods of high workload. Continually, the lunar offload capacity is further characterized to aid in improving the cardiothermal prediction models including predictions of core temperature, skin temperature and heat storage using heart rate, metabolic rates and suit thermal data during the simulated EVA. The outcome of this model provides an application for future use in contingency predictions of energy expenditure during Lunar EVAs and provide a suite of instrumentation to predict workload during training scenarios.

Simulated EVA↗

NASA NTRS1968

Cardiac R-wave detector

Cardiac R wave detector obtains the systolic contraction signal of the human heart and uses it as a reference signal for the heart-assist pump cycle. It processes the electrocardiac signal /QRS wave complex/ of the natural heart in a sequence of operations which essentially elimates all components from the input signal except the R wave.

Gebben, V. D.↗

NASA NTRS1972

Coronary flow and left ventricular function during environmental stress.

A canine model was used to study the effects of different environmental stresses on the heart and coronary circulation. The heart was surgically instrumented to measure coronary blood flow, left ventricular pressure, and other cardiovascular variables. Coronary flow was recorded by telemetry. Physiologic data were processed and analyzed by analog and digital computers. By these methods the physiologic response to altitude hypoxia, carbon monoxide, hypercapnia, acceleration, exercise, and the interaction of altitude hypoxia and carbon monoxide were described. The effects of some of these stresses on the heart and coronary circulation are discussed.

Erickson, H. H.↗

NASA NTRS1973

Physiological response to exercise after space flight - Apollo 7 to Apollo 11.

Exercise response tests were conducted preflight and postflight on Apollo missions 7 to 11. The primary objective of these tests was to detect any changes in the cardiopulmonary response to exercise that were associated with the space flight environment and that could have limited lunar surface activities. A heart-rate-controlled bicycle ergometer was used to produce three heart rate stress levels: 120 beats per minute for 6 minutes; 140 beats per minute for 3 minutes and 160 beats per minute per 3 minutes. Work load, blood pressure and respiratory gas exchange were measured during each stress level. Significant decreases were observed immediately postflight in the following dependent variables at a heart rate of 160 beats per minute: work load, oxygen consumption, systolic blood pressure, and diastolic blood pressure. No changes occurred in work efficiency at 100 watts or the ventilatory equivalent for oxygen at 2.0 liters per minute.

Rummel, J. A.↗