Chronobiologic blood pressure assessment: maturation of the daily rhythm in newborn foals.

Circadian rhythmicity of physiological processes in animals has been described for some variables. In order to investigate the daily rhythmicity of blood pressure, seven foals (Equus caballus) were used for 40 days after birth. Measurements of blood pressure were done by means of an oscillometric apparatus (Argus TM-7, Schiller, Barr Switzerland) with the foals in a standing position and the cuff placed around the tail. Blood pressure was recorded twice a day, 1 hour before dawn and 1 hour before dusk for the first 10 days of life, every 2 days from the 11th to the 32nd day, on the 36th and on the 40th day. Two-way repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to determine statistically significant differences between the mean values recorded at dawn and dusk during the study. Analysis of variance showed a significant effect of time (p<0.0001), during the first 40 days of life. This study confirms a strong correlation between age and blood pressure in horse and the absence of blood pressure maturation in foals 40 days old. The results on the maturation of the daily rhythm of blood pressure in foals is a contribution to the study of the development of circadian rhythms in mammals. These results are also useful for the chronophysiological assessment of blood pressure in the horse.