Evaluation of electrocardiographic and hemodynamic effects of caffeine with acute dosing in healthy volunteers

Study Objective. To evaluate the effects of moderate, single-dose caffeine consumption on electrocardiographic variables: PR, QRS, QT, QTc, and RR intervals, and QT and QTc interval dispersion. Effects of caffeine on blood pressure and heart rate also were evaluated. Design. Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study. Setting. University school of pharmacy. Patients. Ten healthy volunteers aged 17 years or older. Intervention. Participants abstained from caffeinated products for at least 2 days before the study began and were randomly designated to receive placebo or caffeine 400 mg on various days. For each of the study phases, a baseline 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) was performed and a subsequent 12-lead ECG performed 3 hours after ingesting the study drug. Blood pressure readings were taken with each ECG. Measurements and Main Results. No significant changes in any intragroup or intergroup electrocardiographic variables occurred. Caffeine increased blood pressure (systolic blood pressure [SBP]/diastolic blood pressure [DBP]) from 118 +/- 5/75 +/- 6 mm Hg to 128 +/- 8/77 +/- 7 mm Hg versus baseline (p=0.0022 and p=0.0368 for SBP and DBP, respectively). After drug dosing, SBP in the caffeine group was significantly higher than in the placebo group (128 +/- 8 mm Hg versus 119 +/- 7 mm Hg, p=0.0174). Conclusion. Moderate caffeine consumption by healthy young adults does not acutely affect PR, QRS, QT, QTc, and RR intervals, or QT and QTc interval dispersion. Caffeine-naive subjects experienced persistent elevations in SBP and DBP 3 hours after caffeine ingestion, indicating that longer caffeine abstinence than that which is recommended is necessary for blood pressure determination in the clinical setting.