Exploring cardiac autonomic dysfunction in synucleinopathies with parkinsonism through awake-sleep stages: a possible connection to cardiovascular death.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

Alpha-synucleinopathies (ASs), including Parkinson's disease, multiple system atrophy and dementia with Lewy bodies, are characterised by autonomic dysfunction that may predispose to cardiovascular events and sudden death. Heart rate variability (HRV) is a non-invasive marker of autonomic regulation, yet its modulation across sleep stages in ASs remains unclear.

Methods

We retrospectively analysed 25 patients with ASs and 35 age-matched controls who underwent overnight polysomnography between 2020 and 2023. 5 min ECG segments from wakefulness, non-rapid eye movement (NREM) and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep were used to compute time- and frequency-domain HRV indices. Statistical comparisons and multivariate models were adjusted for sex and REM sleep behaviour di

SUBMITTER: Limotai N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12820873 | biostudies-literature | 2026

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature