TY - JOUR
T1 - Major depression and cardiac autonomic control
AU - Lehofer, Michael
AU - Moser, Maximilian
AU - Hoehn-Saric, Rudolf
AU - McLeod, Daniel
AU - Liebmann, Peter
AU - Drnovsek, Birgit
AU - Egner, Sigrun
AU - Hildebrandt, Gunther
AU - Zapotoczky, Hans Georg
PY - 1997/11/15
Y1 - 1997/11/15
N2 - We investigated autonomic control of heart rate in patients with major depression, melancholic type. Twenty-three depressed inpatients who were being treated with tricyclic antidepressants and 23 depressed patients who were taking no medications were compared with age- and sex-matched control groups on resting cardiac vagal tone and heart rate. In unmedicated depressed patients, cardiac vagal tone was comparable to that of control subjects, but heart rate was significantly higher. This increase in heart rate may have been due to sympathetic activation caused by anxiety, since the depressed patients were significantly more anxious than the control subjects. Medicated patients exhibited diminished cardiac vagal tone and higher heart rate than unmedicated patients and controls. This was probably due to the anticholinergic effects of the antidepressants. Our findings suggest that cardiac vagal tone is not lower than normal in patients with depression, melancholic type.
AB - We investigated autonomic control of heart rate in patients with major depression, melancholic type. Twenty-three depressed inpatients who were being treated with tricyclic antidepressants and 23 depressed patients who were taking no medications were compared with age- and sex-matched control groups on resting cardiac vagal tone and heart rate. In unmedicated depressed patients, cardiac vagal tone was comparable to that of control subjects, but heart rate was significantly higher. This increase in heart rate may have been due to sympathetic activation caused by anxiety, since the depressed patients were significantly more anxious than the control subjects. Medicated patients exhibited diminished cardiac vagal tone and higher heart rate than unmedicated patients and controls. This was probably due to the anticholinergic effects of the antidepressants. Our findings suggest that cardiac vagal tone is not lower than normal in patients with depression, melancholic type.
KW - Autonomic nervous system
KW - Heart rate
KW - Major depression
KW - Respiratory sinus arrhythmia
KW - Tricyclic antidepressants
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U2 - 10.1016/S0006-3223(96)00494-5
DO - 10.1016/S0006-3223(96)00494-5
M3 - Article
C2 - 9359977
AN - SCOPUS:0030699182
SN - 0006-3223
VL - 42
SP - 914
EP - 919
JO - Biological psychiatry
JF - Biological psychiatry
IS - 10
ER -