Impairment of the autonomic nervous function during decompression sickness in swine

• Published in: Journal of applied physiology (1985) Vol. 106; no. 3; pp. 1004 - 1009
• Main Authors: Bai, Yan, Mahon, Richard T, White, Joseph C, Brink, Peter R, Chon, Ki H
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Am Physiological Soc 01.03.2009; American Physiological Society
• Subjects: Animals; Autonomic Nervous System - physiopathology; Cardiovascular disease; Decompression Sickness - etiology; Decompression Sickness - physiopathology; Disease Models, Animal; Electrocardiography; Gait - physiology; Heart - innervation; Heart - physiology; Heart Conduction System; Heart Rate - physiology; Hogs; Male; Models, Neurological; Myocardial infarction; Nervous system; Neurological disorders; Nonlinear Dynamics; Physiology; Principal Component Analysis; Swine - physiology; Telemetry
• ISSN: 8750-7587; 1522-1601
• DOI: 10.1152/japplphysiol.91246.2008

1 Departments of Biomedical Engineering, 2 Family Medicine, and 3 Physiology and Biophysics, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, New York; and 4 Naval Medical Research Center and Uniformed Services University, Bethesda, Maryland Submitted 17 September 2008 ; accepted in final form 5 January 2009 Dysautonomia has been observed in many cardiac diseases; however, its effect in decompression sickness (DCS) has not been well examined largely due to the difficulty in obtaining experimental data in human or animal subjects. In this study, we examine how DCS affects the autonomic nervous system's (ANS) dynamics in swine. Baseline and post-DCS electrocardiograms were obtained via telemetry recordings and compared. These data were analyzed using both the power spectrum method and our recently developed principal dynamic mode (PDM) analysis. PDM is able to separate the dynamic tones of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. Both methods demonstrated a statistically significant decrease (>55%; P < 0.05) in the dynamics of both branches of the autonomic nervous system in the swine with DCS compared with the control condition. In cardiac diseases such as myocardial infarction, ANS imbalance is often associated with a significant increase in sympathetic tone, which may or may not be counterbalanced by parasympathetic nervous activity. However, the effect of DCS is such that both branches of the ANS are depressed >55% compared with the control condition, suggesting impairment, but not imbalance, of the ANS. principal dynamic mode; autonomic nervous system; sympathetic; parasympathetic; heart rate variability Address for reprint requests and other correspondence: K. H. Chon, Dept. of Biomedical Engineering, SUNY at Stony Brook, HSC T18, Rm. 030, Stony Brook, NY, 11794-8181 (e-mail: ki.chon{at}sunysb.edu )