Abstract
This study aims to evaluate and compare cardiac autonomic function, specifically through heart rate variability (HRV), between individuals with bronchiectasis and their age- and gender-matched healthy counterparts. This study employed a case-control design, involving 60 participants diagnosed with bronchiectasis (cases) and a control group of healthy individuals matched by age and gender. HRV data was collected over a five-minute interval, focusing on frequency domain parameters including total power, very low frequency (VLF), low frequency (LF), high frequency (HF), and the LF/HF ratio. The bronchiectasis group exhibited a significantly elevated LF/HF ratio, indicating a shift in cardiac sympathovagal balance, relative to the control group (2.25 ± 0.39 vs. 2.05 ± 0.38; p = 0.006). Additionally, marked differences were found in specific frequency domain parameters: LF (2.33 ± 0.55 vs. 2.55 ± 0.46; p = 0.021) and HF (2.06 ± 0.75 vs. 2.5 ± 0.56; p = 0.001). The results suggest a notable disturbance in cardiac autonomic regulation among individuals with bronchiectasis, compared to healthy individuals.
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Research data will be available from the corresponding author with a reasonable request.
Abbreviations
- HRV:
-
Heart rate variability
- COPD:
-
Chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases
- BA:
-
Bronchial asthma
- PAH:
-
Pulmonary artery hypertension
- OSA:
-
Obstructive sleep apnea
- SpO2:
-
Saturation of peripheral oxygen
- SDNN:
-
Standard deviation of all NN intervals
- RMSSD:
-
The square root of the mean of the sum of the squares of differences between adjacent NN intervals
- pNN50:
-
Percentage of successive RR intervals that differ by more than 50 ms
- VLF:
-
Power in very low-frequency range
- LF:
-
Power in low frequency range
- HF:
-
Power in high frequency range
- LF/HF:
-
Ratio LF/HF
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Open access funding provided by Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal
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D.D., M.K.S., A.B., A.M.P., and V.K. were involved in conceptualizing the study, developing methodologies, acquiring data, and writing the manuscript. D.D., M.K.S., A.B., and V.K. contributed significantly to the design, data acquisition, analysis, and writing of the results. All authors reviewed the final draft of the manuscript. D.D., A.B., and M.K.S. wrote the preliminary draft, and A.M.P. and V.K. reviewed it. The final version was prepared with the consensus of all the authors.
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The study was approved by Kasturba Medical College and Kasturba Hospital Institutional Ethics Committee (IEC: 72/2018) and was registered under the Clinical Trial Registry of India.(CTRI/2018/11/016355)(https://ctri.nic.in/Clinicaltrials/pmaindet2.php?EncHid=MjU2MzE=&Enc=&userName=CTRI/2018/11/016355 ). Before their participation, all participants provided informed consent by signing and returning the consent documents.
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Dinesh, D., Vaishali, K., Bhat, A. et al. Cardiac autonomic function in bronchiectasis and age and gender-matched healthy participants: case–control study. Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-36722-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-36722-9
