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Guanfacine alters the effect of stress and smoking on heart rate variability in regular daily smokers
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Guanfacine alters the effect of stress and smoking on heart rate variability in regular daily smokers

Terril L. Verplaetse, Philip H. Smith, Kathryn M. Z. Smith, Lindsay M. Oberleitner and Sherry A. McKee
PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY, v 234(5), pp 805-813
01 Mar 2017
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-016-4517-1
PMID: 28028603
Featured in Collection :   UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
url
https://europepmc.org/articles/pmc5309140View
Accepted (AM) Open Open Access (License Unspecified)

Abstract

Life Sciences & Biomedicine Neurosciences Neurosciences & Neurology Pharmacology & Pharmacy Psychiatry Science & Technology
We had previously demonstrated that guanfacine, an alpha 2a-adrenergic agonist, attenuated the effect of stress on smoking-lapse behavior in regular daily smokers. Heart rate variability (HRV), a measure of vagal activity, may be a potential mechanism underlying the relationship between stress, smoking, and relapse. We examined whether guanfacine (0 mg/day vs. 3 mg/day; n = 26) altered changes in high-frequency heart rate variability (HF-HRV) following stress and ad-lib smoking using a validated laboratory analogue of smoking-lapse behavior. All participants completed a parent study evaluating the effects of guanfacine on stress-precipitated smoking. Each subject completed two laboratory sessions assessing the effects of guanfacine on HF-HRV following stress imagery (vs. neutral imagery; order counterbalanced) and smoking. Results demonstrated that guanfacine did not increase tonic levels of HF-HRV relative to placebo. Following the stress versus neutral imagery manipulation (prior to ad-lib smoking), there were no significant changes in HF-HRV in the placebo group. In contrast, guanfacine increased phasic HF-HRV following stress imagery and decreased HF-HRV following neutral imagery. Ad libitum smoking following both the stress and neutral conditions decreased HF-HRV in the placebo group across both imagery conditions. In contrast, guanfacine attenuated stress- and smoking-related decreases in phasic HF-HRV relative to the neutral imagery condition. This is the first demonstration that a noradrenergic target altered dynamic changes in HF-HRV in response to stress and smoking, suggesting that guanfacine alters HF-HRV response to stress. Findings support current theories which suggest that phasic changes in HRV are an important marker of the stress response.

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4 citations in Web of Science
4 citations in Scopus

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UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This publication has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#3 Good Health and Well-Being

Source: SDGs in the Output

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Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Neurosciences
Pharmacology & Pharmacy
Psychiatry
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