Impact of Ramadan Intermittent Fasting on the Heart Rate Variability and Cardiovascular Parameters of Patients with Controlled Hypertension.

Background: Conflicting results are reported on the effect of Ramadan fasting on the cardiovascular health of patients with hypertension, a highly prevalent cardiovascular disease risk factor. This research aimed to evaluate the impact of fasting on cardiac health and heart rate variability (as a measure of cardiac stress) of hypertensive patients.

Methods: Patients with controlled hypertension were followed in a prospective cohort during and after Ramadan.

Effect of Ramadan fasting on heart rate variability as a measure of cardiac stress in a Lebanese cohort.

Background: Intermittent fasting is an annual religious practice of Muslims worldwide, which affects the physiology of the body due to lifestyle alterations. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of Ramadan fasting on the HRV, an indirect measure of cardiac sympathetic stress.

Methods: This study included 80 healthy Lebanese females (aged 18-25 years old) monitored for 24 h when following normal routine; 38 and 42 females were enrolled before and during Ramadan, respectively.

Stress and Heart Rate Variability during University Final Examination among Lebanese Students.

Real-life stressors, such as university examination, cause an increase in sympathetic activity of the nervous system innervating the heart, and thus an increase in heart rate (HR). Our study aimed to detect changes in heart rate variability (HRV) during different stages of an exam in a group of 90 healthy university students (30 males and 60 females), over 4 h of monitoring divided into 1 h before, 2 h during, and 1 h after the examination. HRV was significantly highest after the exam, indicating release from stress, as compared to before and during the examination when stress was observable.

Loss of STAT3 in mouse embryonic fibroblasts reveals its Janus-like actions on mitochondrial function and cell viability.

STAT3 has been implicated in mitochondrial function; however, the physiological relevance of this action is not established. Here we studied the importance of STAT3 to the cellular response to stimuli, TNFα and serum deprivation, which increase mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation. Experiments were performed using wild type (WT) and STAT3 knockout (KO) mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEF).