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Abstract
Heart rate variability (HRV), a measure of cardiac autonomic control, was analyzed
in infants to assess the hypothesis that early undernutrition may induce autonomic
dysfunction that could play a role in the programming of later cardiovascular disease.
HRV data were collected during a night session in 546 healthy infants at 5–12 weeks
of adjusted age, and statistical associations with fetal and postnatal growth indices
were established. A significant positive correlation between birth weight, the ratio
of neonatal weight to head circumference and postnatal weight gain, and HRV indices
mostly influenced by sympathetic activity was demonstrated in 11- and 12-week-old
infants. A slight correlation (p > 0.05) was also found in younger infants. These
data suggest the influence of fetal and postnatal growth on the programming of the
autonomic nervous system beyond the neonatal period. This influence may be one of
the important mechanisms that link impaired growth in fetal and infant life to high
blood pressure and other cardiovascular disease during childhood and adulthood (the
Barker hypothesis).