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Trained breathing-induced oxygenation acutely reverses cardiovascular autonomic dysfunction in patients with type 2 diabetes and renal disease

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Abstract

Aims

Cardiovascular autonomic dysfunction, evaluated as baroreflex sensitivity (BRS), could be acutely corrected by slow breathing or oxygen administration in patients with type 1 diabetes, thus suggesting a functional component of the disorder. We tested this hypothesis in patients with the type 2 diabetes with or without renal impairment.

Methods

Twenty-six patients with type 2 diabetes (aged 61.0 ± 0.8 years, mean ± SEM; duration of diabetes 10.5 ± 2 years, BMI 29.9 ± 0.7 kg/m2, GFR 68.1 ± 5.6 ml/min) and 24 healthy controls (aged 58.5 ± 1.0 years) were studied. BRS was obtained from recordings of RR interval and systolic blood pressure fluctuations during spontaneous and during slow, deep (6 breaths/min) controlled breathing in conditions of normoxia or hyperoxia (5 l/min oxygen).

Results

During spontaneous breathing, diabetic patients had lower RR interval and lower BRS compared with the control subjects (7.1 ± 1.2 vs. 12.6 ± 2.0 ms/mmHg, p < 0.025). Deep breathing and oxygen administration significantly increased arterial saturation, reduced RR interval and increased BRS in both groups (to 9.6 ± 1.8 and 15.4 ± 2.4 ms/mmHg, respectively, p < 0.05, hyperoxia vs. normoxia). Twelve diabetic patients affected by chronic diabetic kidney disease (DKD) presented a significant improvement in the BRS during slow breathing and hyperoxia (p < 0.025 vs. spontaneous breathing during normoxia).

Conclusions

Autonomic dysfunction present in patients with type 2 diabetes can be partially reversed by slow breathing, suggesting a functional role of hypoxia, also in patients with DKD. Interventions known to relieve tissue hypoxia and improve autonomic function, like physical activity, may be useful in the prevention and management of complications in patients with diabetes.

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Acknowledgments

Pasquale Esposito received an educational grant from the Fondazione Italiana del Rene (FIR) and Italian Society of Nephrology (SIN). LB is a recipient of a grant from the Signe and Ane Gyllenberg Foundation, Helsinki.

Conflict of interest

All authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Ethical standard

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (Ethics Committee of Foundation IRCCS Policlinico “San Matteo” of Pavia, Italy) and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Human and animal rights

All human rights were observed in keeping with Helsinki Declaration of 2008. There are no animal right issues as this is a clinical study.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all patients for being included in the study which has been done according to the ethical standards and keeping with Helsinki Declaration of 2008.

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Correspondence to Pasquale Esposito.

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Esposito, P., Mereu, R., De Barbieri, G. et al. Trained breathing-induced oxygenation acutely reverses cardiovascular autonomic dysfunction in patients with type 2 diabetes and renal disease. Acta Diabetol 53, 217–226 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00592-015-0765-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00592-015-0765-5

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