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. 2018 Apr;80(3):301-306.
doi: 10.1097/PSY.0000000000000560.

Cardiovascular Stress Reactivity and Carotid Intima-Media Thickness: The Buffering Role of Slow-Wave Sleep

Ryan C Brindle  1 , Katherine A Duggan, Matthew R Cribbet, Christopher E Kline, Robert T Krafty, Julian F Thayer, Suresh R Mulukutla, Martica H Hall
Affiliations

Cardiovascular Stress Reactivity and Carotid Intima-Media Thickness: The Buffering Role of Slow-Wave Sleep

Ryan C Brindle et al. Psychosom Med. 2018 Apr.

Abstract

Objective: Exaggerated cardiovascular reactivity to acute psychological stress has been associated with increased carotid intima-media thickness (IMT). However, interstudy variability in this relationship suggests the presence of moderating factors. The current study aimed to test the hypothesis that poor nocturnal sleep, defined as short total sleep time or low slow-wave sleep, would moderate the relationship between cardiovascular reactivity and IMT.

Methods: Participants (N = 99, 65.7% female, age = 59.3 ± 9.3 years) completed a two-night laboratory sleep study and cardiovascular examination where sleep and IMT were measured. The multisource interference task was used to induce acute psychological stress, while systolic and diastolic blood pressure and heart rate were monitored. Moderation was tested using the PROCESS framework in SPSS.

Results: Slow-wave sleep significantly moderated the relationship between all cardiovascular stress reactivity variables and IMT (all pinteraction ≤ .048, all ΔRinteraction ≥ .027). Greater stress reactivity was associated with higher IMT values in the low slow-wave sleep group and lower IMT values in the high slow-wave sleep group. No moderating effects of total sleep time were observed.

Conclusions: The results provide evidence that nocturnal slow-wave sleep moderates the relationship between cardiovascular stress reactivity and IMT and may buffer the effect of daytime stress-related disease processes.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Raw cardiovascular stress reactivity and intima-media thickness data. Slow-wave sleep significantly moderates the relationship between diastolic (A), and systolic (B) blood pressure, and heart rate (C) reactivity and intima-media thickness. HR = heart rate, SBP = systolic blood pressure, DBP = diastolic blood pressure, IMT = intima-media thickness
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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