Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2008 Jul;42(9):769-77.
doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2007.08.003. Epub 2007 Sep 19.

Circadian affective, cardiopulmonary, and cortisol variability in depressed and nondepressed individuals at risk for cardiovascular disease

Ansgar Conrad  1 , Frank H Wilhelm, Walton T Roth, David Spiegel, C Barr Taylor
Affiliations

Circadian affective, cardiopulmonary, and cortisol variability in depressed and nondepressed individuals at risk for cardiovascular disease

Ansgar Conrad et al. J Psychiatr Res. 2008 Jul.

Abstract

Depression is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD) perhaps mediated by hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis or vagal dysregulation. We investigated circadian mood variation and HPA-axis and autonomic function in older (55 years) depressed and nondepressed volunteers at risk for CVD by assessing diurnal positive and negative affect (PA, NA), cortisol, and cardiopulmonary variables in 46 moderately depressed and 19 nondepressed volunteers with elevated CVD risk. Participants sat quietly for 5-min periods (10:00, 12:00, 14:00, 17:00, 19:00, and 21:00), and then completed an electronic diary assessing PA and NA. Traditional and respiration-controlled heart rate variability (HRV) variables were computed for these periods as an index of vagal activity. Salivary cortisols were collected at waking, waking+30min, 12:00, 17:00, and 21:00h. Cortisol peaked in the early morning after waking, and gradually declined over the day, but did not differ between groups. PA was lower and NA was higher in the depressed group throughout the day. HRV did not differ between groups. Negative emotions were inversely related to respiratory sinus arrhythmia in nondepressed participants. We conclude that moderately depressed patients do not show abnormal HPA-axis function. Diurnal PA and NA distinguish depressed from nondepressed individuals at risk for CVD, while measures of vagal regulation, even when controlled for physical activity and respiratory confounds, do not. Diurnal mood variations of older individuals at risk for CVD differ from those reported for other groups and daily fluctuations in NA are not related to cardiac autonomic control in depressed individuals.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Means and standard errors of State Positive Affect (PANAS) across the day in male and female depressed and nondepressed subjects at risk for CVD.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Means and standard errors of State Negative Affect (PANAS) across the day in male and female depressed and nondepressed subjects at risk for CVD.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Means and standard errors of Log Cortisol across the day in male and female depressed and nondepressed subjects at risk for CVD.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Agelink MW, Boz C, Ullrich H, Andrich J. Relationship between major depression and heart rate variability. Clinical consequences and implications for antidepressive treatment. Psychiatry Research. 2002;113:139–149. - PubMed
    1. Bacon SL, Watkins LL, Babyak M, Sherwood A, Hayano J, Hinderliter AL, Waugh R, Blumenthal JA. Effects of daily stress on autonomic cardiac control in patients with coronary artery disease. American Journal of Cardiology. 2004;93:1292–1294. - PubMed
    1. Bagiella E, Sloan RP, Heitjan DF. Mixed-effects models in psychophysiology. Psychophysiology. 2000;37:13–20. - PubMed
    1. Beck AT, Ward CH, Mendelson M, Mock J, Erbaugh J. An inventory for measuring depression. Archives of General Psychiatry. 1961;41:561–571. - PubMed
    1. Bhagwagar Z, Hafizi S, Cowen PJ. Increased salivary cortisol after waking in depression. Psychopharmacology. 2005:1–4. - PubMed

Publication types