The associations among glycemic control, heart variability, and autonomic brain function in healthy individuals: Age- and sex-related differences

Abstract

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to clarify the relationships between glycemia and function of the autonomic nervous system (ANS), assessed via resting-state functional connectivity (FC) and heart-rate variability (HRV).

Methods: Data for this study were extracted from the Leipzig Study for Mind-Body-Emotion Interactions, including 146 healthy adults (114 young, 32 older). Variables of interest were glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), resting-state FC in the salience aspect of the central-autonomic (S-CAN) and salience network (SN) and HRV (RMSSD and high-frequency HRV (HF-HRV)).

Results: HbA1c was inversely correlated with FC in the S-CAN but not SN. HbA1c was inversely correlated with HRV. Both RMSSD and log(HF-HRV) were correlated with FC in the S-CAN and SN. Age- (not sex-related) differences were observed in the Hb1Ac-FC associations (stronger in older adults) while sex- (not age-related) differences were observed in the HRV-FC (stronger in females).

Conclusions: These findings extend the diabetes literature to healthy adults in relating glycemia and brain function. The age- and sex-related differences in these relationships highlight the need to account for the potential effects of age and sex in future investigations.

Keywords: Aging; Blood glucose; Functional connectivity; Glycated hemoglobin; Heart-rate variability; Prediabetes; Sex differences.