Baseline heart rate variability predicts placebo hypoalgesia in men, but not women.
Front Pain Res (Lausanne)
; 4: 1213848, 2023.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-37799824
ABSTRACT
Introduction:
Placebo hypoalgesic effects vary greatly across individuals, making them challenging to control for in clinical trials and difficult to use in treatment. We investigated the potential of resting vagally-mediated heart rate variability (vmHRV) to help predict the magnitude of placebo responsiveness.Methods:
In two independent studies (total N = 77), we administered a placebo paradigm after measuring baseline HRV. In Study I, we delivered heat pain to the forearm, on skin patches treated with "real" and "control" cream (identical inactive creams). In Study II, electrical pulses to the forearm were modulated by sham transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation. We combined data from both studies to evaluate the relationship between vagally-mediated HRV (vmHRV) parameters and the placebo response size, while also assessing sex differences in this relationship. Results andDiscussion:
This revealed a positive association between vmHRV and the degree of pain relief, and this effect was driven by men. These results not only reveal new insights into the (sex-specific) mechanisms of placebo hypoalgesia, but also suggest that measuring vmHRV may be helpful in predicting placebo responsiveness. Given that placebo hypoalgesic effects contribute substantially to treatment outcomes, such a non-invasive and easily obtained predictor would be valuable in the context of personalized medicine.
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Banco de datos:
MEDLINE
Tipo de estudio:
Clinical_trials
/
Prognostic_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Front Pain Res (Lausanne)
Año:
2023
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Luxemburgo