Title Changes in heart rate and heart rate variability during transportation of horses by road and air.
Author Ohmura, Hajime; Hobo, Seiji; Hiraga, Atsushi; Jones, James H
Journal Am J Vet Res Publication Year/Month 2012-Apr
PMID 22452498 PMCID -N/A-
Affiliation 1.Sports Science Division, Equine Research Institute, Japan Racing Association, 321-4 Tokami-cho, Utsunomiya, Tochigi, Japan.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the influence of transportation by road and air on heart rate (HR) and HR variability (HRV) in horses. Animals-6 healthy horses. PROCEDURES: ECG recordings were obtained from horses before (quarantine with stall rest [Q]; 24 hours) and during a journey that included transportation by road (RT; 4.5 hours), waiting on the ground in an air stall (W; 5.5 hours), and transportation by air (AT; 11 hours); HR was determined, and HRV indices of autonomic nervous activity (low-frequency [LF; 0.01 to 0.07 Hz] and high-frequency [HF; 0.07 to 0.6 Hz] power) were calculated. RESULTS: Mean +/- SD HRs during Q, RT, W, and AT were 38.9 +/- 1.5 beats/min, 41.7 +/- 5.6 beats/min, 41.5 +/- 4.3 beats/min, and 48.8 +/- 5.6 beats/min, respectively; HR during AT was significantly higher than HR during Q. The LF power was significantly higher during Q (3,454 +/- 1,087 milliseconds(2)) and AT (3,101 +/- 567 milliseconds(2)) than it was during RT (1,824 +/- 432 milliseconds(2)) and W (2,072 +/- 616 milliseconds(2)). During Q, RT, W, and AT, neither HF powers (range, 509 to 927 milliseconds(2)) nor LF:HF ratios (range, 4.1 to 6.2) differed significantly. The HR during RT was highly correlated with LF power (R(2) = 0.979), and HR during AT was moderately correlated with the LF:HF ratio (R(2) = 0.477). CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: In horses, HR and HRV indices during RT and AT differed, suggesting that exposure to different stressors results in different autonomic nervous influences on HR.

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