Relation of heart rate variability to serum levels of C-reactive protein, interleukin 6, and 10 in patients with sepsis and septic shock.

Purpose: The aim of the study was to investigate possible associations between different heart rate variability (HRV) indices and various biomarkers of inflammation in 45 septic patients.

Materials And Methods: We daily assessed HRV in the time domain (SD of RR intervals [SDNN]), frequency domain (low [LF], high frequency [HF], LF/HF as an indicator of sympathovagal balance); the 2 values of SD (SD1, SD2) from the Poincaré plot; and measured C-reactive protein, interleukin 6, and interleukin 10 serum levels in patients with sepsis and mean Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score (SOFA) 10 or lower (n = 25) and septic shock (SOFA > 10, n = 20) for 6 days.

Results: C-reactive protein exhibited significant negative correlations with LF (r = -0.