## Results
### Cardiovascular Autonomic Dysfunction and Inflammatory Markers  
The correlation between the inflammatory markers and HRV was analyzed at weeks 1 and 6, and the results show that the inflammatory biomarkers generally show an inverse association with the HRV parameters in both weeks 1 and 6 in the infection group. There was a very strong inverse association between the CRP and HRV in response to the Valsalva maneuver (rho = \(-0.826\)), which was statistically significant (\(p\) = \(0.011\)). Furthermore, the IL6 and the resting HRV showed a moderate inverse association (rho = \(-0.661\)), which was also statistically significant (\(p\) = \(0.038\)). These inverse associations were mirrored in week 6 in the infection group, but, as it can be seen in Table S2, those negative associations were generally weaker than it was appreciated in week 6. However, it is worth noting that IL6 still presented strong inverse associations with the resting HRV and the HRV in response to standing up (rho = \(-0.757\) and rho= \(-0.766\), respectively), which were statistically significant (\(p\) = \(0.018\) and \(p\) = \(0.016\)) (see Table 2). \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Group**} & \multicolumn{3}{c}{**Resting HRV in**} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{**HRV** **in**} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{**HRV Valsalva**} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{**HRV Handgrip**} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{**HRV Standing**} \\  & & & **Breathing** & & & & \\ \hline \multirow{6}{*}{Total sample} & CRP & \(-0.153\); \(p\) = \(0.309\) & \(-0.168\); \(p\) = \(0.269\) & \(-0.303\); \(p\) = \(0.046\) & \(-0.096\); \(p\) = \(0.539\) & \(-0.252\); \(p\) = \(0.099\) \\  & IL1\(\theta\) & \(-0.050\); \(p\) = \(0.736\) & \(0.065\); \(p\) = \(0.667\) & \(0.124\); \(p\) = \(0.418\) & \(-0.063\); \(p\) = \(0.684\) & \(-0.032\); \(p\) = \(0.835\) \\  & IL4 & \(0.100\); \(p\) = \(0.504\) & \(0.170\); \(p\) = \(0.260\) & \(0.083\); \(p\) = \(0.586\) & \(0.087\); \(p\) = \(0.574\) & \(0.444\); \(p\) = \(0.002\) \\  & IL6 & \(-0.226\); \(p\) = \(0.127\) & \(-0.132\); \(p\) = \(0.383\) & \(-0.003\); \(p\) = \(0.985\) & \(-0.289\); \(p\) = \(0.049\) & \(0.129\); \(p\) = \(0.400\) \\  & IL10 & \(-0.025\); \(p\) = \(0.869\) & \(0.195\); \(p\) = \(0.194\) & \(0.120\); \(p\) = \(0.505\) & \(0.182\); \(p\) = \(0.236\) & \(0.192\); \(p\) = \(0.207\) \\  & TNFa & \(0.028\); \(p\) = \(0.853\) & \(-0.256\); \(p\) = \(0.086\) & \(0.308\); \(p\) = \(0.040\) & \(-0.047\); \(p\) = \(0.763\) & \(-0.225\); \(p\) = \(0.137\) \\ \hline \multirow{6}{*}{Infection group} & CRP & \(-0.317\); \(p\) = \(0.406\) & \(-0.224\); \(p\) = \(0.533\) & \(-0.826\); \(p\) = \(0.011\) & \(0.000\); \(p\) = \(1.000\) & \(-0.417\); \(p\) = \(0.265\) \\  & IL1\(\theta\) & \(-0.058\); \(p\) = \(0.873\) & \(0.378\); \(p\) = \(0.252\) & \(-0.138\); \(p\) = \(0.724\) & \(-0.407\); \(p\) = \(0.243\) & \(0.174\); \(p\) = \(0.631\) \\ \cline{1-1}  & IL4 & \(0.394\); \(p\) = \(0.259\) & \(-0.019\); \(p\) = \(0.956\) & \(-0.257\); \(p\) = \(0.505\) & \(0.039\); \(p\) = \(0.915\) & \(0.575\); \(p\) = \(0.082\) \\ \cline{1-1}  & IL6 & \(-0.661\); \(p\) = \(0.038\) & \(-0.464\); \(p\) = \(0.151\) & \(-0.510\); \(p\) = \(0.160\) & \(-0.322\); \(p\) = \(0.364\) & \(-0.115\); \(p\) = \(0.751\) \\ \cline{1-1}  & IL10 & \(0.355\); \(p\) = \(0.314\) & \(0.089\); \(p\) = \(0.794\) & \(0.312\); \(p\) = \(0.414\) & \(0.236\); \(p\) = \(0.511\) & \(-0.082\); \(p\) = \(0.822\) \\ \cline{1-1}  & TNFa & \(-0.333\); \(p\) = \(0.347\) & \(-0.309\); \(p\) = \(0.355\) & \(0.318\); \(p\) = \(0.404\) & \(-0.103\); \(p\) = \(0.776\) & \(-0.406\); \(p\) = \(0.244\) \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}  
* Data presented are the Spearman’s rho and \(p\)-value.  
\end{table} 
Table 2: [PERSON]’s correlation coefficients and \(p\)-values for the week 1 association between heart-rate variability (HRV) and inflammatory markers 1.