Acute ethanol intake dose-dependently increased heart rate and the LF/HF ratio while decreasing HRV spectral power during sleep, indicating an inhibition of parasympathetic nerve activity.
Does acute ethanol intake affect heart rate variability and parasympathetic nerve activity during sleep in healthy male university students?
Acute ethanol intake dose-dependently inhibits parasympathetic nerve activity and increases sympathetic predominance during sleep.
BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to identify the acute effects of ethanol on the relationship between sleep and heart rate variability (HRV) during sleep. METHODS: Ten healthy male university students were enrolled in this study. An alcoholic beverage was given to each subject at a dosage of 0 (control), 0.5 (low dose: LD), or 1.0 g (high dose: HD) of pure ethanol/kg of body weight. All experiments were performed at 3-week intervals. On the day of the experiment, a Holter electrocardiogram was attached to the subject for a 24-hour period, and the subject was instructed to drink the above-described dosage of alcoholic beverage 100 minutes before going to bed; polysomnography was then performed for 8 hours. Power spectral analysis of the HRV was performed using the maximum entropy method, and the low- (LF: 0.04 to 0.15 Hz) and high-frequency (HF: 0.15 to 0.4 Hz) components along with LF/HF ratio were calculated. RESULTS: As alcohol consumption increased, the heart rate increased and the spectral power of HRV measured at each frequency range decreased. Higher doses of ethanol also increased the LF/HF ratio compared with the measured ratio of the control group. CONCLUSIONS: Acute ethanol intake inhibits parasympathetic nerve activity and results in predominance of sympathetic nerve activity during sleep, in a dosage-dependent manner. The results of this study suggest that ethanol interferes with the restorative functions of sleep.
Sagawa et al. (Tue,) conducted a other in Healthy (n=10). Ethanol vs. 0 g/kg (control) was evaluated on Heart rate variability (HRV) during sleep (LF, HF, and LF/HF ratio). Acute ethanol intake dose-dependently increased heart rate and the LF/HF ratio while decreasing HRV spectral power during sleep, indicating an inhibition of parasympathetic nerve activity.