063 Differential Impact of Sleep Duration on Nocturnal Blood Pressure Dipping Between Men and Women

Introduction There is growing evidence that poor sleep may have a greater impact on the development of cardiovascular complications in women compared to men. However, most studies that have evaluated the impact of sex on sleep insufficiencies and blood pressure (BP) have not utilized ambulatory BP, and often rely more heavily on subjective sleep diaries as opposed to objective sleep assessment. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of sex on the relationship between objectively measured sleep and nocturnal BP dipping. We hypothesized that poor sleep would be associated with decreased nocturnal BP dipping, and that this association would be stronger in women. Methods Total sleep time (TST) and sleep efficiency (SE) were monitored in fifty adults (31 men, 19 women; 36±3 years; 26±1 kg/m2) utilizing wrist actigraphy monitoring over the course of 5–14 days (Avg: 10±0 days). On a separate occasion, participants underwent a 24-hour ambulatory BP recording session. Independent samples T-tests were used to compare characteristics between sexes. Partial correlations controlling for age and BMI were utilized to probe relationships between sleep and nocturnal BP dipping. Results TST and SE were not different between sexes. However, women exhibited reduced mean arterial pressure (MAP: 86±1 vs. 90±1 mmHg, P=0.026) compared to men. Partial correlation revealed a significant relationship between TST and the magnitude of nocturnal MAP dipping in the sample population (R = 0.460, P<0.001). When stratified by sex, this significant relationship persisted in men (R = 0.610, P<0.001), but not women (R = 0.108, P>0.05). In contrast, no relationship was observed between SE and nocturnal MAP dipping (R = -0.052, P>0.05) for the sample population. Similarly, SE did not correlate with nocturnal MAP dipping in men (R = -0.080, P>0.05) or women (R = 0.045, P>0.05). Conclusion Contrary to our initial hypothesis, our results demonstrate that actigraphy-based TST is associated with nocturnal BP dipping in healthy men, but not women. This suggests a relation between impaired nocturnal BP regulation and habitual sleep duration, potentially predisposing men to an increased overall risk for cardiovascular complications. Support (if any) National Institutes of Health (HL-098676 and HL-122919)

The relationship between ambulatory arterial stiffness, inflammation, blood pressure dipping and cardiovascular outcomes

Background The ambulatory arterial stiffness index (AASI) is an indirect measure of arterial stiffness obtained during ambulatory blood pressuring monitoring (ABPM). Its relationship to nocturnal blood pressure dipping status and major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) are controversial and its association with vascular inflammation has not been examined. We aimed to investigate the relationship between the AASI, inflammation and nocturnal blood pressure dipping status and its association with MACE. Methods Adults (aged 18–80 years) who underwent 24-h ABPM for the diagnosis of hypertension or its control were included. The inflammatory markers measured were the neutrophil–lymphocyte (NLR), platelet-lymphocyte (PLR) and monocyte-lymphocyte ratios (MLR). The primary MACE was a composite of cardiovascular death, acute limb ischaemia, stroke or transient ischaemic attack (TIA) or acute coronary syndrome. Results A total of 508 patients (51.2% female) aged 58.8 ± 14.0 years were included; 237 (46.7%) were normal-dippers (≥ 10% nocturnal systolic dip), 214 (42.1%) were non-dippers (0–10% dip) and 57 (11.2%) were reverse-dippers (< 0% dip). The AASI was significantly higher among reverse (0.56 ± 0.16) and non-dippers (0.48 ± 0.17) compared with normal dippers (0.39 ± 0.16; p < 0.0001) and correlated with the NLR (r = 0.20; 95% CI 0.11 to 0.29: < 0.0001) and systolic blood pressure dipping % (r = − 0.34; − 0.42 to − 0.26: p < 0.0001). Overall 39 (7.7%) patients had ≥ 1 MACE which included a total of seven cardiovascular deaths and 14 non-fatal strokes/TIAs. The mean follow up was 113.7 ± 64.0 weeks. Increasing NLR, but not AASI or systolic dipping, was independently linked to MACE (overall model Chi-square 60.67; p < 0.0001) and MLR to cardiovascular death or non-fatal stroke/TIA (overall model Chi-square 37.08; p < 0.0001). Conclusions In conclusion AASI was associated with blood pressure dipping and chronic inflammation but not independently to MACE. The MLR and NLR were independent predictors of MACE.

Association between nocturnal blood pressure dipping and chronic kidney disease among patients with controlled office blood pressure

Background Although abnormal blood pressure patterns are associated with adverse cardiorenal outcomes, their associations are yet unquantified by nocturnal dipping status. We examined the association of nocturnal blood pressure dipping pattern with albuminuria and kidney function among participants with controlled hypertension without prior advanced kidney disease. Methods Ambulatory blood pressure measurements were collected from 995 middle-aged, cardiology clinic patients with controlled office blood pressure (&lt;140/90 mmHg). The magnitude of dipping was calculated as the difference between daytime and nighttime systolic blood pressure divided by daytime systolic blood pressure. Accordingly, the participants were categorized as extreme-dipper (≥20%), dipper (10-&lt;20%), non-dipper (0-&lt;10%), or reverse-dipper (&lt;0%). We analyzed the cross-sectional associations of dipping with albuminuria (urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio ≥30 mg/g) and decreased estimated glomerular filtration rate (&lt;60 ml/min/1.73m 2), adjusting for office/ambulatory blood pressure, antihypertensive class, body mass index, total cholesterol, fasting glucose, socioeconomic status, and health behavior. Results The participants (mean age 60.2 years; 52.9% male) consisted of 13.5% extreme-dippers, 43.1% dippers, 34.7% non-dippers, and 8.7% reverse-dippers. In reference to dippers, odds ratios [95% confidence interval] for albuminuria were 1.73 [1.04-2.60] in reverse-dippers, 1.67 [1.20-2.32] in non-dippers, and 0.62 [0.38-1.04] in extreme-dippers. Likewise, abnormal dipping profile was associated with decreased kidney function: reverse-dipping, 2.02 [1.06-3.84]; non-dipping, 1.98 [1.07-3.08]; extreme-dipping, 0.69 [0.20-1.17]. The associations persisted participants with more conservatively controlled office blood pressure (&lt;130/80 mmHg). Conclusions Monitoring diurnal and nocturnal blood pressure may identify chronic kidney disease otherwise overlooked based on office blood pressure.

The Night Side of Blood Pressure: Nocturnal Blood Pressure Dipping and Emotional (dys)Regulation

Introduction: The dipping phenomenon is a physiological drop in blood pressure (around 10–20%) during sleep and represents an event related to the circadian blood pressure trend. This phenomenon, in some cases, is characterized by some alterations that can be expressed by an increase (extreme dipping), a decrease (non-dipping), or a reverse (i.e., higher blood pressure during sleep compared to awake state; reverse-dipping) physiological decline of blood pressure. Few studies focused on the association between the circadian variation of blood pressure and psychological variables, although this information could help understanding how psychological characteristics (e.g., emotional regulation or dysregulation) interact with individuals’ physiological processes. Given the association between emotional dysregulation and essential hypertension, this study aimed to investigate the relationship between alexithymia and dipping status in a sample of healthy and hypertensive adults in the absence of other medical conditions. Methods: Two hundred and ten adults took part in the study and were classified, according to ambulatorial blood pressure measure (ABPM), into three groups: dippers (n = 70), non-dippers (n = 70), and extreme dippers (n = 70). The participants completed a socio-demographic and anamnestic interview and the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 (TAS-20). Results: The ANOVAs on the TAS-20 subscales showed that the groups differed in the difficulty identifying feelings and difficulty describing feelings. In both the subscales, dippers showed lower scores than non-dippers and extreme dippers. The ANOVA on the global score of TAS-20 confirmed that dippers were less alexithymic than both extreme dippers and non-dippers. Conclusions: This study confirms that some psychological factors, like alexithymia, could represent a characteristic of patients who fail to exhibit an adaptive dipping phenomenon. Moreover, an association between an excessive reduction of BP (extreme dipping) or a lack of the decrease of BP during sleep (non-dipping) and a worse emotional regulation, considering alexithymia construct, was highlighted for the first time, confirming the relevant role of the emotional process in the modulation of an essential psychophysiological process such as the circadian variation of BP.