A total of 32 morbidly obese patients (body mass index 51 ¡À 11 kg/m2) underwent laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. Measures of HRV (e.g., power spectral analysis, RR variation during deep breathing) were used to evaluate autonomic function before and 6 months after surgery. The homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance index (HOMA-IR) was used to assess insulin resistance.
At 6 months after bariatric surgery, the patients had lost 58 % excess body mass index with improvement in the HOMA-IR (3.0 ¡À 1.4 versus 1.1 ¡À .7; P < .001). Measures of RR variation during deep breathing and total spectral power, low frequency (LF) power (influenced by sympathetic and parasympathetic activity), and high frequency (HF) power (parasympathetic activity) increased with weight loss. The LF/HF ratio was lower (1.5 ¡À 1.5 versus .9 ¡À .7, P < .05) with a reduction in weight. Spectral analysis of HRV combined with spectral analysis of respiratory activity generated the respiration frequency area (RFA) and low frequency area. The RFA was increased, and the LFA/RFA ratio was reduced with weight loss. HOMA-IR and HRV did not correlate.
Surgically induced weight loss has a favorable effect on autonomic function, but it does not appear to be directly attributable to reduced insulin resistance.