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Multimodal therapy revealed sex-specific cardiovascular shifts in Parkinson’s disease.  

 A study published in June 2025 issue of BMC Neurology explored sex-based differences in cardiovascular dysregulation (CDR) among individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PD), highlighting the potential role of heart rate (HR) variability and electrodermal activity (meanEDA) in understanding autonomic changes during therapy.   

Researchers conducted a retrospective study to describe sex-specific cardiovascular and autonomic responses to a multimodal inpatient rehabilitation program in individuals with PD.   

They analyzed data from 41 individuals with PD (24 males, 17 females) who underwent a stationary, multimodal therapy intervention (MTI). The HR, blood pressure (BP), root mean square of successive differences (RMSSD), and meanEDA were measured before and after MTI during a 5-minute supine baseline period and a 5-minute supine rest adaptation period following orthostasis. Changes between baseline and rest adaptation, as well as pre-and post-MTI differences, were assessed using the Wilcoxon test. Sex-based differences were evaluated using the Mann–Whitney U test.   

The results showed that before the MTI, females had significantly higher supine HR (P= .034; d = .17) and BP (P= .015; d = 0.4) during rest adaptation compared to baseline. Following MTI, their supine HR (P= .020; d = .84) and BP (P= .022; d = 0.5) during rest adaptation decreased significantly. Males showed no significant changes in HR or BP between supine conditions. The RMSSD and meanEDA remained stable in both sexes.   

Investigators concluded that sex-specific responses to MTI supported the need for sex-sensitive cardiovascular management in PD, with autonomic measures offering potential insight into central regulatory mechanisms. 

Source: bmcneurol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12883-025-04281-7