Evaluation of sympathovagal modulation, blood pressure and metabolic profile of young users and non-users of combined oral contraceptives

• Grant number: 12/20015-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: January 01, 2013
• End date: February 28, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine
• Principal Investigator: Fernanda Marciano Consolim-Colombo
• Grantee: Tercio Lemos de Morais
• Host Institution: Universidade Nove de Julho (UNINOVE). Campus Vergueiro. São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Cardiovascular diseases are major leading causes of morbidity and mortality, accounting for one third of deaths worldwide among men and women, both in developed and emerging countries. Hypertension is considered as the major modifiable risk factor for developing cardiovascular disease. Several mechanisms are associated with the development of hypertension, including changes in the autonomic nervous system. There is evidence of the association between use of combined oral contraceptives (CHOC) and development of hypertension in the early years of usage. The mechanisms involved are not fully elucidated. The analysis of heart rate variability has been particularly used as a resource for the measurement of sympathetic and parasympathetic balance to the heart. Previous studies from our group demonstrated that there is an imbalance in the autonomic modulation preceding the development of hypertension in offspring of hypertensive parents. Moreover, several studies have shown that increased sympathetic modulation, and reducing vagal give an increase in cardiovascular mortality in different populations. In this project, which is a substudy of a project already approved and underway, we plan to evaluate the impact of using CHOC in anthropometric parameters (body mass index, waist circumference), hemodynamic (blood pressure, heart rate, cardiac output and stamina peripheral vascular disease), metabolic (glucose, total cholesterol and triglycerides) and autonomic (serum norepinephrine and heart rate variability) in young women. To this end, we compare the parameters described between groups of users and non users of CHOC, in an age group 18-30 years of age. (AU)