Effects of Hypoxia on Heart Rate Variability in Healthy Individuals: A Systematic Review

Abstract Background: Hypoxia is a physiological condition that may affect the cardiac autonomic modulation, which can be assessed by spontaneous fluctuations in heart rate, know as heart rate variability (HRV). Studies have reported reductions or maintenance of HRV in hypoxic situation presenting controversial effects. There is a knowledge gap in relation to changes in HRV during hypoxia. Objective: The aim of this study was to systematically review the effects of hypoxia on HRV in unacclimatized healthy adults at rest. Methods: This systematic review was performed according to PRISMA guidelines. Search terms used in MEDLINE, SCOPUS, LILACS and EUROPE PMC database were: "heart rate variability" OR "cardiac autonomic modulation" OR "cardiac autonomic regulation" AND NOT intermittent NOT sleep (hypoxia OR altitude). Records were filtered by species, age group and language. Results: At the end of the screening and eligibility, 13 manuscripts remained for qualitative synthesis. Discussion: The studies used different experimental protocols involving difference in barometric pressure, oxygen level, time of exposure to hypoxia and control of respiratory rate. Possibly the influence of these factors and also the interindividual variation to hypoxia may justify different responses in HRV. Conclusion: Based on the investigated studies, hypoxia has been capable of generating a decrease in HRV, either by reduction or maintenance of vagal modulation, or by sympathetic predominance or even the combination of these responses in healthy adults unacclimatized to hypoxia. This effect appears to be dependent on altitude level and barometric pressure. (Int J Cardiovasc Sci. 2017;30(3):251-261)