Table 1.
Physical characteristics and baseline data
| Healthy subjects | Heart failure | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Variable | n = 13 | n = 16 | P value |
| Age (years) | 55.6 ± 1.9 | 62.2 ± 2.6 | 0.06 |
| Height (cm) | 174.3 ± 3.0 | 167.6 ± 2.0 | 0.08 |
| Body weight (kg) | 77.2 ± 3.4 | 75.6 ± 2.8 | 0.71 |
| Heart rate (beats min−1) | 64.6 ± 2.8 | 62.0 ± 2.0 | 0.44 |
| Systolic blood pressure (mmHg) | 110.0 ± 4.7 | 112.5 ± 3.9 | 0.68 |
| Diastolic blood pressure | 66.8 ± 2.5 | 66.7 ± 1.8 | 0.95 |
| MSNA (bursts min−1) | 42.3 ± 2.7 | 50.0 ± 2.0 | 0.03 |
| MSNA (bursts/100 heart beat) | 66.2 ± 4.1 | 82.1 ± 3.4 | 0.005 |
 (l min−1) |
2.6 ± 0.2 | 1.40 ± 0.1 | <0.001 |
 (ml kg−1 min−1) |
32.6 ± 2.8 | 18.0 ± 2.0 | <0.001 |
 (% predicted) |
116.8 ± 7.6 | 69.0 ± 6.4 | <0.001 |
Mean ± SE. MSNA, muscle sympathetic nerve activity; 
peak oxygen uptake.