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Objective:

To examine whether high-frequency heart rate variability, an indirect measure of parasympathetic (vagal) control over variations in heart rate, is associated with immune reactivity to an in vitro inflammatory challenge. Convergent evidence from the animal literature shows that the autonomic nervous system plays a key role in regulating the magnitude of immune responses to inflammatory stimuli. Signaling by the parasympathetic system inhibits the production of proinflammatory cytokines by activated monocytes/macrophages and thus decreases local and systemic inflammation. As yet, no direct human evidence links parasympathetic activity to inflammatory competence.

Methods:

We examined the relationship of variations in heart rate, recorded during paced respiration, to lipopolysaccharide-induced production of the inflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, and IL-10 …