Nocturnal dipping of heart rate and blood pressure in people with HIV in Tanzania

Journal article

People with HIV (PWH) have a >2-fold greater risk for development of cardiovascular disease (CVD), which may be associated with abnormalities in 24-h ambulatory blood pressure measurement (ABPM) profile. We conducted a nested case-control study of ABPM in 137 PWH and HIV-uninfected controls with normal and high clinic blood pressure (BP) in Tanzania. Nocturnal non-dipping of heart rate (HR) was significantly more common among PWH than HIV-uninfected controls (p = .01). Nocturnal non-dipping of BP was significantly more common in PWH with normal clinic BP (p = .048). Clinical correlates of nocturnal non-dipping were similar in PWH and HIV-uninfected adults and included higher BMI, higher CD4⁺ cell count, and high C-reactive protein for HR and markers of renal disease for BP. In conclusion, nocturnal non-dipping of both BP and HR was more common in PWH but further research is needed to determine causes and consequences of this difference.

Authors: Nolan, C; Reis, K; Fadhil, S; Etyang, A; Ezeomah, C

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Wiley
• Journal: Journal of Clinical Hypertension
• Volume: 23
• Issue: 7
• Pages: 1452-1456
• Publication date: 2021-06-02
• Acceptance date: 2021-05-15
• DOI: 10.1111/jch.14300
• EISSN: 1751-7176
• ISSN: 1524-6175
• Pmid: 34080288
• Language: English
• Keywords: blood pressure; HIV infections; circadian rhythm; FFR; adult; case-control studies; humans; Tanzania; heart rate; hypertension; ambulatory blood pressure monitoring