Cardiac autonomic activity has a circadian rhythm in summer but not in winter in non-lactating pregnant dairy cows

• A circadian profile was observed for every parameter in summer but not in winter.
• Sympathovagal balance shifted towards sympathetic dominance during daytime.
• Nonlinear HRV showed a chaotic behavior of cardiac function during the afternoon.
• Season had an expressed effect on cardiac activity both for daytime and nighttime.
• Results suggest an impaired cardiac autonomic function during daytime in summer.

This investigation was conducted to examine circadian and seasonal rhythms of heart rate and heart rate variability (HRV) by means of hour-by-hour recordings over 24 h in a large population of non-lactating Holstein–Friesian pregnant cows [N = 56, summer (June–July); N = 61, winter (November–December)]. Data were collected during a 5-day period from each animal. Besides parameters of cardiac autonomic function [the high-frequency (HF) component of HRV and the ratio between the low-frequency (LF) and the HF components (LF/HF ratio)], the RR triangular index and Lmax were calculated. A clear circadian profile was observed for every parameter in summer. Heart rate elevated gradually with the course of the day from 7:00 to 17:00 o'clock and then slightly decreased from 18:00 to 6:00. Sympathovagal balance shifted towards sympathetic dominance during the daytime (increased LF/HF ratio), whereas parasympathetic activity was predominant during the night (increased HF). Lmax reflected a chaotic behavior of heart rate fluctuations during the afternoon in summer. Decreased values of RR triangular index indicated a sensitive period for cows between 14:00 and 16:00 o'clock in summer. During winter, except for the RR triangular (RRtri) index reflecting a high overall variability in R–R intervals between 12:00 and 23:00 o'clock, heart rate and HRV showed no periodicity over the 24-h period. The results suggest an impaired cardiac autonomic function during daytime in summer. HF, Lmax and RRtri index showed seasonal differences for both daytime and nighttime. Heart rate was higher in summer than in winter during the daytime, whereas the LF/HF ratio was higher in winter during the nighttime. Circadian and seasonal rhythms of cardiovascular function are presumably related to the differing temperature, and animal activity associated with summer and winter. As all of the investigated parameters are commonly used in bovine HRV research, these findings have practical implications for behavioral, physiological and welfare studies on dairy cattle.