Mindfulness and Neural Cardiovascular Control in Humans

Michigan Technological University52 enrolled

Overview

This study evaluates the impact of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) on sympathetic nerve activity and arterial stiffness. The investigator's central hypothesis is that MBSR will reduce sympathetic activity and arterial stiffness.

This study will recruit male and female subjects with elevated blood pressure who will participate in a randomized, active control study to examine the impact of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) on blood pressure, muscle sympathetic nerve activity and arterial stiffness. The study will utilize established techniques for assessing blood pressure patterns (24-hour ambulatory monitoring), peripheral sympathetic activity (microneurography) and vascular stiffness (applanation tonometry) in humans. This study includes a stress management education class for the active control.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

BASIC_SCIENCE

Masking

NONE

Enrollment

Conditions

Elevated Blood Pressure

Interventions

Stress ManagementBEHAVIORAL

An eight week stress reduction course.

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 18 YearsMax age: 45 YearsHealthy volunteers:

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * Seated systolic blood pressure \>119 mmHg and/or diastolic blood pressure \>79 mmHg * Body mass index \<30 kg/m2 Exclusion Criteria: * Smokers * Diabetes * Pregnant women * History of autonomic dysfunction * Cardiovascular medication

Locations (1)

Purdue University Northwest

Hammond, Indiana, United States

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Muscle Sympathetic Nerve Activity

Direct recordings of muscle sympathetic nerve activity from the peroneal nerve using microneurography. Sympathetic bursts that were at least three times higher than baseline noise were evaluated by a trained investigator and quantified as bursts per minute. The investigator was blinded to the condition and whether the data was pre or post until after all data was collected and analyzed.

Time frame: Data reported is the change in the mean value from before to after the 8 week intervention (i.e. pre to post).

Secondary Outcomes

Arterial Stiffness

Carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity using applanation tonometry. A SphygmoCor system was used to gait pulse waves from a tonometer to the R-wave of a 3-lead ECG and carotid to femoral pulse wave velocity was evaluated in meters per second. A higher value indicates more arterial stiffness in the aorta, and a lower value indicates less stiffness in the aorta.

Time frame: Data reported is the change in the mean value from before to after the 8 week intervention (i.e. pre to post).

Data from ClinicalTrials.gov

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