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Methods of assessing vagus nerve activity and reflexes

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Abstract

The methods used to assess cardiac parasympathetic (cardiovagal) activity and its effects on the heart in both humans and animal models are reviewed. Heart rate (HR)-based methods include measurements of the HR response to blockade of muscarinic cholinergic receptors (parasympathetic tone), beat-to-beat HR variability (HRV) (parasympathetic modulation), rate of post-exercise HR recovery (parasympathetic reactivation), and reflex-mediated changes in HR evoked by activation or inhibition of sensory (afferent) nerves. Sources of excitatory afferent input that increase cardiovagal activity and decrease HR include baroreceptors, chemoreceptors, trigeminal receptors, and subsets of cardiopulmonary receptors with vagal afferents. Sources of inhibitory afferent input include pulmonary stretch receptors with vagal afferents and subsets of visceral and somatic receptors with spinal afferents. The different methods used to assess cardiovagal control of the heart engage different mechanisms, and therefore provide unique and complementary insights into underlying physiology and pathophysiology. In addition, techniques for direct recording of cardiovagal nerve activity in animals; the use of decerebrate and in vitro preparations that avoid confounding effects of anesthesia; cardiovagal control of cardiac conduction, contractility, and refractoriness; and noncholinergic mechanisms are described. Advantages and limitations of the various methods are addressed, and future directions are proposed.

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the numerous contributions made by investigators worldwide to development of methods to assess cardiovagal nerve activity and its reflex control, which formed the basis of this review article. Unfortunately, due to space limitations, many important publications on this subject could not be cited, for which we apologize. The authors thank Harald M. Stauss, MD, PhD at the University of Iowa for his helpful comments on the manuscript. The author’s research into mechanisms of autonomic regulation has been funded by the National Institutes of Health (HL14388), the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the American Heart Association.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Cardiovascular Center and Departments of Internal Medicine and Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, The University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, 200 Hawkins Drive, Iowa City, IA, 52242, USA

    Mark W. Chapleau

  2. The Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Iowa City, IA, 52246, USA

    Mark W. Chapleau

  3. The Cardiovascular Center and Department of Internal Medicine, The University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, 200 Hawkins Drive, Iowa City, IA, 52242, USA

    Rasna Sabharwal

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  1. Mark W. Chapleau
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Correspondence to Mark W. Chapleau.

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Chapleau, M.W., Sabharwal, R. Methods of assessing vagus nerve activity and reflexes. Heart Fail Rev 16, 109–127 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10741-010-9174-6

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