{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,6]],"date-time":"2026-04-06T12:25:09Z","timestamp":1775478309260,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":76,"publisher":"Wiley","issue":"20","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2018,9,12]],"date-time":"2018-09-12T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1536710400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000341","name":"Arthritis Research UK","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["196633"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["196633"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000341","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["physoc.onlinelibrary.wiley.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["The Journal of Physiology"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2018,10]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Key points<\/jats:title><jats:p><jats:list list-type=\"bullet\"><jats:list-item><jats:p>A surge in cortisol during acute physiological and pathophysiological stress may precipitate ventricular arrhythmia and myocardial infarction.<\/jats:p><\/jats:list-item><jats:list-item><jats:p>Reduced cardiovagal baroreflex sensitivity and heart rate variability are observed during acute stress and are associated with an increased risk of acute cardiac events.<\/jats:p><\/jats:list-item><jats:list-item><jats:p>In the present study, healthy young men received either a single<jats:sc>iv<\/jats:sc>bolus of saline (placebo) or hydrocortisone, 1\u00a0week apart, in accordance with a randomized, placebo\u2010controlled, cross\u2010over study design.<\/jats:p><\/jats:list-item><jats:list-item><jats:p>Hydrocortisone acutely increased heart rate and blood pressure and reduced cardiovagal baroreflex sensitivity and heart rate variability in young men.<\/jats:p><\/jats:list-item><jats:list-item><jats:p>These findings suggest that, by reducing cardiovagal baroreflex sensitivity and heart rate variability, acute surges in cortisol facilitate a pro\u2010arrhythmic milieu and provide an important mechanistic link between stress and acute cardiac events<\/jats:p><\/jats:list-item><\/jats:list><\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title><jats:p>Surges in cortisol concentration during acute stress may increase cardiovascular risk. To better understand the interactions between cortisol and the autonomic nervous system, we determined the acute effects of hydrocortisone administration on cardiovagal baroreflex sensitivity (BRS), heart rate variability (HRV) and cardiovascular reactivity. In a randomized, placebo\u2010controlled, single\u2010blinded cross\u2010over study, 10 healthy males received either a single<jats:sc>iv<\/jats:sc>bolus of saline (placebo) or 200\u00a0mg of hydrocortisone, 1\u00a0week apart. Heart rate (HR), blood pressure (BP) and limb blood flow were monitored 3 h later, at rest and during the sequential infusion of sodium nitroprusside and phenylephrine (modified Oxford Technique), a cold pressor test and a mental arithmetic stress task. HRV was assessed using the square root of the mean of the sum of the squares of differences between successive R\u2010R intervals (rMSSD). Hydrocortisone markedly increased serum cortisol 3 h following infusion and also compared to placebo. In addition, hydrocortisone elevated resting HR (+7\u00a0\u00b1 4\u00a0beats\u00a0min<jats:sup>\u22121<\/jats:sup>;<jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>\u00a0&lt; 0.001) and systolic BP (+5\u00a0\u00b1 5\u00a0mmHg;<jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>\u00a0= 0.008); lowered cardiovagal BRS [geometric mean (95% confidence interval) 15.6 (11.1\u201322.1)\u00a0ms\/mmHg<jats:italic>vs<\/jats:italic>. 26.2 (17.4\u2013\u201339.5)\u00a0ms\/mmHg,<jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>\u00a0= 0.011] and HRV (rMSSD 59\u00a0\u00b1 29\u00a0ms<jats:italic>vs<\/jats:italic>. 84\u00a0\u00b1 38\u00a0ms,<jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>\u00a0= 0.004) and increased leg vasoconstrictor responses to cold pressor test (\u0394 leg vascular conductance \u221245\u00a0\u00b1 20%<jats:italic>vs<\/jats:italic>. \u221223\u00a0\u00b1 26%;<jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>\u00a0= 0.023). In young men, an acute cortisol surge is accompanied by increases in HR and BP, as well as reductions in cardiovagal BRS and HRV, potentially providing a pro\u2010arrhythmic milieu that may precipitate ventricular arrhythmia or myocardial infarction and increase cardiovascular risk.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1113\/jp276644","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2018,8,22]],"date-time":"2018-08-22T15:47:05Z","timestamp":1534952825000},"page":"4847-4861","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":22,"title":["Acute hydrocortisone administration reduces cardiovagal baroreflex sensitivity and heart rate variability in young men"],"prefix":"10.1113","volume":"596","author":[{"given":"Ahmed M.","family":"Adlan","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Life and Environmental Sciences University of Birmingham Edgbaston Birmingham UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jet J. 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