Key result
Heritability of 24-h heart rate variability measures (SDNN, RMSSD, pvRSA) was estimated at 46%-57%, and excluding participants with a nighttime ceiling effect did not alter these estimates.
Why the study?
What is the heritability of 24-h heart rate variability measures and does a nighttime ceiling effect at low heart rates influence these estimates?
Observational (n=1,288)
What is the heritability of 24-h heart rate variability measures and does a nighttime ceiling effect at low heart rates influence these estimates?
Cardiac vagal control indices are moderately heritable (46-57%) and gene-finding studies can pool different indices without needing to exclude participants with low heart rates.
Supports moderate heritability of HRV indices for gene-finding; leaves open generalizability from this cross-sectional sample.
This study estimated the heritability of 24-h heart rate variability (HRV) measures, while considering ceiling effects on HRV at low heart rates during the night. HRV was indexed by the standard deviation of all valid interbeat intervals (SDNN), the root mean square of differences between valid, successive interbeat intervals (RMSSD), and peak-valley respiratory sinus arrhythmia (pvRSA). Sleep and waking levels of cardiac vagal control were assessed in 1,003 twins and 285 of their non-twin siblings. Comparable heritability estimates were found for SDNN (46%-53%), RMSSD (49%-54%), and pvRSA (48%-57%) during the day and night. A nighttime ceiling effect was revealed in 10.7% of participants by a quadratic relationship between mean pvRSA and the interbeat interval. Excluding these participants did not change the heritability estimates. The genetic factors influencing ambulatory pvRSA, RMSSD, and SDNN largely overlap. These results suggest that gene-finding studies may pool the different cardiac vagal indices and that exclusion of participants with low heart rates is not required.
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Neijts et al. (2014) conducted an observational in Cardiac vagal control (n=1,288). 24-h heart rate variability (HRV) recordings was evaluated on Heritability of 24-h heart rate variability measures (SDNN, RMSSD, pvRSA). Heritability of 24-h heart rate variability measures (SDNN, RMSSD, pvRSA) was estimated at 46%-57%, and excluding participants with a nighttime ceiling effect did not alter these estimates.
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