Variabilidad de la frecuencia cardiaca en bovinos - monografía

Abstract

Heart rate variability (HRV) is a very important parameter to assess the electrical activity of the heart and the functioning of the autonomic nervous system, especially the balance between sympathetic activity and vagal activity. In a healthy animal, at rest, the frequency between each beat is more variable, due to the flexibility and adaptability required to quickly cope with both internal and external stimuli that can alter the homeostasis of the animal. For this reason, HRV measurement has begun to be used with greater incidence in the field of research with animals, to analyze the changes in the sympathetic-vagal balance commonly related to diseases and situations of high psychological or environmental stress. This work analyzes the recent and old research on HRV in farm animals, describes how cardiac activity is regulated and the relationships between HRV, sympathetic-vagal balance, stress and animal welfare. It then introduces the types of equipment and methodological approaches that have been adapted and developed to measure heartbeat intervals (IBI) and estimate HRV in these animals. Throughout the work, experiments, methods and conclusions derived from the measurement of HRV in cattle are analyzed.