Higher Frequency of Nocturnal Blood Pressure Dipping but Not Heart Rate Dipping in Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Background: Masked hypertension (MHTN) and lack of nocturnal dipping in blood pressure (BP) have been linked to the state of inflammation. Aims: We aimed to assess the frequency of nocturnal patterns of BP and heart rate (HR) in patients with IBD. Methods: Sixty-three normotensive patients with confirmed IBD during remission and 63 healthy subjects were enrolled in a case–control study. All subjects were monitored for BP and HR over a period of 24 h under ambulatory setting. Means for BP and HR were calculated for nighttime and daytime periods. Daytime BP ≥ 135/85 mmHg, nighttime BP ≥ 120/70 mmHg, and 24-h average BP ≥ 130/80 mmHg were defined as MHTN. The main end points of this study were lack of >10% nocturnal decrease in the systolic BP (NDP-BP) and in HR (NDP-HR). Results: After exclusion of 8 patients with IBD from analysis, 55 patients and 63 control subjects (49% men) with a mean age of 37.5 ± 11.0 years were enrolled. NDP-BP was more common in the IBD group compared to controls (55 vs. 33%; P = 0.026). MHTN was detected in 24% of IBD patients compared to 8% among controls (P = 0.017). Meanwhile, NDP-HR was observed in 22% of the IBD patients and 30% of the control group (P = 0.402). IBD remained a significant predictor of NDP-BP (odds ratio 2.60, 95% confidence interval 1.19–5.51) following an adjustment for age and gender. Conclusions: IBD is associated with higher frequency of NDP-BP and MHTN; however, nocturnal changes in HR were similar in both groups.