Key result
Patients with major depressive disorder demonstrated significantly reduced cardio-respiratory fitness, including lower peak oxygen uptake and peak power output, compared to matched healthy controls.
Why the study?
Although depression is linked to autonomic dysfunction and reduced cardio-respiratory fitness, the underlying cause remains debated.
Does major depressive disorder associate with reduced cardio-respiratory fitness and altered autonomic function compared to healthy controls?
Cross-Sectional (n=34)
No
Does major depressive disorder associate with reduced cardio-respiratory fitness and altered autonomic function compared to healthy controls?
Patients with major depressive disorder exhibit altered autonomic function and reduced cardio-respiratory fitness compared to healthy controls, which may contribute to their increased cardiovascular risk.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
May indicate heightened cardiovascular risk in major depressive disorder; hypothesis-generating case-control association needing prospective confirmation.
Patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) have an augmented risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Although a link between depression and autonomic dysfunction as well as reduced cardio-respiratory fitness (CRF) is well documented, the underlying cause is a matter of debate. Therefore, we studied the interplay between autonomic function, body composition and severity of the disease to disentangle possible physiological factors influencing the assumed lack of CRF in MDD patients. We investigated seventeen patients suffering from MDD and seventeen control subjects matched with respect to age, sex, body-mass-index, and smoking habits. A resting baseline assessment and a cardiopulmonary exercise test including a prolonged recovery period were performed to study autonomic function (i.e., heart rate responses and heart rate variability) during rest, exercise and recovery as well as CRF. Most investigated autonomic indices were significantly different at rest, during exercise as well as during recovery indicating altered autonomic modulation. Nevertheless, none of our participants was classified as chronotropically incompetent. As expected, a reduced CRF (i.e., peak oxygen uptake and peak power output, p < 0.01) was observed in patients compared to controls. In addition, a correlation of baseline heart rate and of heart rate during recovery with the ventilatory threshold 1 (p < 0.05) was found in patients only, indicating a relation to the lack of CRF. Furthermore, we observed a positive correlation of the severity of the disease with the weekly sitting time (p < 0.01) as well as a negative correlation with the activity time in the intensity domain walking (p < 0.001) and with the total score of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (p < 0.01) for patients. This study shows that patients with MDD have altered autonomic function not only during resting conditions but also during exercise as well as recovery from exercise. Intervention studies are needed to evaluate how the described autonomic alterations can be influenced by increasing CRF due to appropriate exercise training programs.
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Herbsleb et al. (2020) conducted a cross-sectional in Major Depressive Disorder (n=34). Major Depressive Disorder vs. Healthy controls was evaluated on Peak oxygen uptake (L/min) adjusted for fat free mass (p=<0.01). Patients with major depressive disorder demonstrated significantly reduced cardio-respiratory fitness, including lower peak oxygen uptake and peak power output, compared to matched healthy controls.
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