Key result
Alcohol (0.5 g/kg) altered heart rate and vagal tone index response patterns compared to placebo, indicating its acute cardiac effect is vagally mediated without a direct sympathetic component.
Why the study?
Does a moderate dose of alcohol alter heart rate and vagal tone in normal, healthy social drinkers?
RCT
Does a moderate dose of alcohol alter heart rate and vagal tone in normal, healthy social drinkers?
The acute effect of a moderate dose of alcohol on the heart is vagally mediated and lacks a significant direct sympathetic component.
May support vagal mediation of moderate alcohol's acute HR effects in healthy drinkers; hypothesis-generating, needs confirmation before clinical relevance.
Alcohol (0.5 g/kg bodyweight) was administered in two sessions and placebo in a third session to normal, healthy social drinkers. A control group was administered a mixer (i.e., no alcohol) for each of the three sessions. The heart rate and vagal tone index (V) response patterns were different to alcohol than to the mixer or placebo. The treatments did not differentially influence pulse transit time. The results indicated that the acute effect of a moderate dose of alcohol on the heart is parasympathetically (i.e., vagally) mediated and has no significant direct sympathetic component.
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Newlin et al. (1990) conducted an RCT in Healthy social drinkers. Alcohol vs. Placebo and mixer was evaluated on Heart rate and vagal tone index (V) response patterns. Alcohol (0.5 g/kg) altered heart rate and vagal tone index response patterns compared to placebo, indicating its acute cardiac effect is vagally mediated without a direct sympathetic component.
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