Association between Metabolic Syndrome Components and Cardiac Autonomic Modulation among Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Short-Term Heart Rate Variability in Metabolic Syndrome: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

BACKGROUND

Our aim was to determine the differences in short-term heart rate variability (HRV) between patients with metabolic syndrome (MS) and healthy controls.

METHODS

We searched electronic databases for primary works with short-term HRV recordings (≤30 min) that made comparisons between individuals with MS versus healthy controls. This systematic review and meta-analysis (MA) was performed according to PRISMA guidelines and registered at PROSPERO (CRD42022358975).

RESULTS

Twenty-eight articles were included in the qualitative synthesis and nineteen met the criteria for the MA. Patients with MS showed decreased SDNN (-0.36 [-0.44, -0.28], p < 0.001), rMSSD (-7.59 [-9.98, -5.19], p < 0.001), HF (-0.36 [-0.51, -0.20], p < 0.00001) and LF (-0.24 [-0.38, -0.1], p = 0.001). In subsequent subanalyses, we found a decrease in SDNN (-0.99 (-1.45, -0.52], p < 0.001), rMSSD (-10.18 [-16.85, -3.52], p < 0.01) and HF (-1.04 [-1.97, -0.1] p < 0.05) in women. In men, only LF showed a significant lower value (-0.26 [-0.5, -0.02], p < 0.05). We could not perform MA for non-linear variables.

CONCLUSIONS

Patients with MS showed changes in time-domain analyses, with lower values in SDNN and rMSSD. Regarding frequency-domain analyses, MS patients showed a decrease in HF and LF When sex was used as a grouping variable, the MA was only possible in one of both sexes (men or women) in rMSSD and LF/HF. Lastly, when data for both men and women were available, subanalyses showed a different behavior compared to mixed analyses for SDNN, HF and LF, which might point towards a different impact of MS in men and women.

The impact of social disadvantage on autonomic physiology of latinx adolescents: The role of environmental risks

The experience of poverty embodies complex, multidimensional stressors that may adversely affect physiological and psychological domains of functioning. Compounded by racial/ethnic discrimination, the financial aspect of family poverty typically coincides with additional social and physical environmental risks such as pollution exposure, housing burden, elevated neighborhood unemployment, and lower neighborhood education levels. In this study, we investigated the associations of multidimensional social disadvantage throughout adolescence with autonomic nervous system (ANS) functioning at 17 years. Two hundred and twenty nine low-income Mexican-American adolescents (48.6% female) and their parents were assessed annually between the ages of 10 and 16. Participants' census tracts were matched with corresponding annual administrative data of neighborhood housing burden, education, unemployment, drinking water quality, and fine particulate matter. We combined measures of adolescents' electrodermal response and respiratory sinuses arrhythmia at rest and during a social exclusion challenge (Cyberball) to use as ANS indices of sympathetic and parasympathetic activity, respectively. Controlling for family income-to-needs, youth exposed to greater cumulative water and air pollution from ages 10-16 displayed altered patterns of autonomic functioning at rest and during the social challenge. Conversely, youth living in areas with higher housing burden displayed healthy patterns of autonomic functioning. Altogether, results suggest that toxin exposure in youths' physical environments disrupts the ANS, representing a plausible mechanism by which pollutants and social disadvantage influence later physical and mental health.

CORRECTION OF AUTONOMIC DYSFUNCTION IN OVERWEIGHT CHILDREN BY NORMALIZING BODY COMPOSITION

OBJECTIVE

The aim: To investigated the effect of a 3-month body weight correction program on the functional state of the ANS in children of primary school age who had an increased body mass index and signs of autonomic dysfunction.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Materials and methods: 82 children aged 9 to 11 were examined. During 3 months, all examinees underwent a body weight correction course. Body composition was mea¬sured by the bioimpedance method using the body composition analyzer «TANITA-BC-601» (Japan). The functional state of autonomic regulation was assessed using heart rate variability (HRV) indicators obtained by recording standard 5-minute ECG intervals using the computer hardware and software complex "CARDIOLAB" (XAI-MEDICA, Ukraine).

RESULTS

Results: Statistical processing of HRV indicators showed that 51 children (62.2%) had signs of autonomic dysfunction. In the first group, there was a statistically significant decrease in body weight (from 47.33±4.62 to 44.12±3.96), BMI (from 28.15±2.64 to 26.63±2.87), TFC (from 33.54±3.68 to 30.89±2.81), VF (from 7.056±1.814 to 4.817±2.017) with a simultaneous statistically probable increase in the FFM index (from 60.27±2.47 to 63.15±2,38). According to the time domain indicators of HRV, children in first group have increased the TP of autonomous heart rhythm regulation, as indicated by a statistically significant increase in SDNN from 38.43±6.39 ms to 51.65±7.19 ms (р<0.05); the activity of the sympathetic link of the ANS decreased according to AMo from 41.23±6.17% to 34.29±5.83% (р<0.05) and the intensity of autonomic regulation according to IS, which decreased from 116.3±31,6 units to 81.2±29.1 units (p<0.05).

CONCLUSION

Conclusions: 3-month body weight correction program led to the elimination of signs of autonomic dysfunction in 43.9% of the examined persons.

Association Between Eating Speed and Metabolic Syndrome: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Objective: This review aimed to systematically summarize and meta-analyze the association between eating speed and metabolic syndrome (MetS). Methods: Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews, and Meta Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, four electronic databases (PubMed, Web of Science, MEDLINE, and EMBASE) were searched until March 2021 to identify eligible articles based on a series of inclusion and exclusion criteria. Heterogeneity was examined using I ² statistics. Using random-effects models, the pooled odds ratios (ORs), and 95% CIs were calculated to evaluate the association between eating speed with MetS and its components, including central obesity, blood pressure (BP), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL), triglyceride (TG), and fasting plasma glucose (FPG). Results: Of the 8,500 original hits generated by the systematic search, 29 eligible studies with moderate-to-high quality were included, involving 465,155 subjects. The meta-analysis revealed that eating faster was significantly associated with higher risks of MetS (OR = 1.54, 95% CI: 1.27-1.86), central obesity (OR = 1.54, 95% CI: 1.37-1.73), elevated BP (OR = 1.26, 95% CI: 1.13-1.40), low HDL (OR = 1.23, 95% CI: 1.15-1.31), elevated TG (OR = 1.29, 95% CI: 1.18-1.42), and elevated FPG (OR = 1.16, 95% CI: 1.06-1.27) compared to eating slowly. Conclusions: The results of the review indicated that eating speed was significantly associated with MetS and its components. Interventions related to decreasing eating speed may be beneficial for the management of MetS. Systematic Review Registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42021242213, identifier: CRD42021242213.