ACUTE TRANSCRANIAL DIRECT CURRENT STIMULATION (tDCS) IMPROVES VENTILATORY VARIABILITY AND AUTONOMIC MODULATION IN RESISTANT HYPERTENSIVE PATIENTS

• Published in: Respiratory physiology & neurobiology 2022-03, Vol.297, p.103830-103830, Article 103830
• Main Authors: Ministro, Gabriela, Castaño, Javier B., Barboza, Catarina A., Moura, Eliezer G., Ferreira-Melo, Silvia E., Mostarda, Cristiano T., Fattori, André, Moreno-Junior, Heitor, Rodrigues, Bruno
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aged; Autonomic modulation; Autonomic Nervous System - physiology; Blood pressure; Blood Pressure - physiology; Cardiopulmonary exercise test; Cardiorespiratory Fitness - physiology; Exercise oscillatory ventilation; Exercise Test; Female; Humans; Hypertension - therapy; Male; Middle Aged; Pulmonary Ventilation - physiology; Resistant hypertension; Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation; Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)
• ISSN: 1569-9048; 1878-1519
• DOI: 10.1016/j.resp.2021.103830

•This was the first study designed to evaluate the effects of tDCS on ventilatory variables, central and peripheral blood pressure, as well as autonomic modulation after cardiopulmonary exercise test.•tDCS improved exercise ventilatory variables and cardiorespiratory capacity in RHT patients.•tDCS attenuated exacerbated hemodynamic and autonomic responses to cardiopulmonary exercise tests in RHT patients. Here, we assessed the impact of one session of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) or SHAM (20 min, each) on ventilatory responses to cardiopulmonary exercise test, central and peripheral blood pressure (BP), and autonomic modulation in resistant hypertensive (RHT) patients. RHT subjects (n = 13) were randomly submitted to SHAM and tDCS crossing sessions (1 week of “washout”). Patients and a technician who set the tDCS/Sham room up were both blind. After brain stimulation, patients were submitted to a cardiopulmonary exercise test to evaluate ventilatory and cardiovascular response to exercise. Hemodynamic (Finometer®, Beatscope), and autonomic variables were measured at baseline (before tDCS/Sham) and after incremental exercise. Our study shows that tDCS condition improved heart rate recovery, VO2 peak, and vagal modulation (after cardiopulmonary exercise test); attenuated the ventilatory variability response, central and peripheral blood pressure well as sympathetic modulation (after cardiopulmonary exercise test) in comparison with SHAM. These data suggest that acute tDCS sessions prevented oscillatory ventilation behavior during the cardiopulmonary exercise test and mitigated the increase of systolic blood pressure in RHT patients. After the exercise test, tDCS promotes better vagal reentry and improved autonomic modulation, possibly reducing central blood pressure and aortic augmentation index compared to SHAM. Brazilian Registry of Clinical Trials (ReBEC): https://ensaiosclinicos.gov.br/rg/RBR-8n7c9p.