Effect of long-term high-altitude hypoxia on fetal pulmonary vascular contractility.

Hypoxia in the fetus and/or newborn is associated with an increased risk of pulmonary hypertension. The present study tested the hypothesis that long-term high-altitude hypoxemia differentially regulates contractility of fetal pulmonary arteries (PA) and veins (PV) mediated by differences in endothelial NO synthase (eNOS). PA and PV were isolated from near-term fetuses of pregnant ewes maintained at sea level (300 m) or high altitude of 3,801 m for 110 days (arterial Po(2) of 60 Torr). Hypoxia had no effect on the medial wall thickness of pulmonary vessels and did not alter KCl-induced contractions. In PA, hypoxia significantly increased norepinephrine (NE)-induced contractions, which were not affected by eNOS inhibitor N(G)-nitro-l-arginine (l-NNA). In PV, hypoxia had no effect on NE-induced contractions in the absence of l-NNA. l-NNA significantly increased NE-induced contractions in both control and hypoxic PV. In the presence of l-NNA, NE-induced contractions of PV were significantly decreased in hypoxic lambs compared with normoxic animals. Acetylcholine caused relaxations of PV but not PA, and hypoxia significantly decreased both pD(2) and the maximal response of acetylcholine-induced relaxation in PV. Additionally, hypoxia significantly decreased the maximal response of sodium nitroprusside-induced relaxations of both PA and PV. eNOS was detected in the endothelium of both PA and PV, and eNOS protein levels were significantly higher in PV than in PA in normoxic lambs. Hypoxia had no significant effect on eNOS levels in either PA or PV. The results demonstrate heterogeneity of fetal pulmonary arteries and veins in response to long-term high-altitude hypoxia and suggest a likely common mechanism downstream of NO in fetal pulmonary vessel response to chronic hypoxia in utero.     

Effect of breathing of a helium-oxygen mixture on adaptation to effort in humans during high-altitude hypoxia

The study was carried out on 17 healthy males aged 20-27 years subjected for 15 minutes to submaximal effort on a cycle ergometer (Elema-Schonander) under conditions of breathing ambient atmospheric air or a helium-oxygen mixture (20% O2 + 80% He) and under hypobaric pressure simulating an altitude of 3500 m above sea level. During the experiment the heart rate was recorded with ECG, and determinations were performed of the minute volume, respiratory rate, tidal volume and systolic arterial blood pressure. In the serum of venous blood obtained before and 3 minutes after the exercise the concentrations were measured of lactate (LA), pyruvate (PA) and glucose. High-altitude hypoxia caused unifavourable changes in the adaptation to effort manifesting themselves as an increase of the values of the determined physiological and biochemical indices. On the other hand, favourable changes were observed of the reaction to exercise while the subjects were breathing the helium-oxygen mixture during high-altitude hypoxia. The minute volume increased owing to increased tidal volume, and the exercise-induced rise of lactate (LA), pyruvate (PA) and the LA/PA ratio was lower. This may suggest reduced energy cost of respiration and reduced anaerobic metabolism under these conditions.     

Effects of high-altitude hypoxia on the hormonal response to hypothalamic factors

Acute and chronic exposure to high altitude induces various physiological changes, including activation or inhibition of various hormonal systems. In response to activation processes, a desensitization of several pathways has been described, especially in the adrenergic system. In the present study, we aimed to assess whether the hypophyseal hormones are also subjected to a hypoxia-induced decrease in their response to hypothalamic factors. Basal levels of hormones and the responses of TSH, thyroid hormones, prolactin, sex hormones, and growth hormone to the injection of TRH, gonadotropin-releasing hormone, and growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH) were studied in eight men in normoxia and on prolonged exposure (3-4 days) to an altitude of 4,350 m. Thyroid hormones were elevated at altitude (+16 to +21%), while TSH levels were unchanged, and follicle-stimulating hormone and prolactin decreased, while leutinizing hormone was unchanged. Norepinephrine and cortisol levels were elevated, while no change was observed in levels of epinephrine, dopamine, growth hormone (GH), IGF-1, and IGFBP-3. The mean response to hypothalamic factors was similar in both altitudes for all studied hormones, although total T4 was lower in hypoxia during 45 to 60 min after injection. The effect of hypoxia on the hypophyseal response to hypothalamic factors was similar among subjects, except for the GH response to GHRH administration. We conclude that prolonged exposure to high-altitude hypoxia induces contrasted changes in hormonal levels, but the hypophyseal response to hypothalamic factors does not appear to be blunted.     

Thoracic skeletal morphology and high-altitude hypoxia in Andean prehistory

Living humans from the highland Andes exhibit antero-posteriorly and medio-laterally enlarged chests in response to high-altitude hypoxia. This study hypothesizes that morphological responses to high-altitude hypoxia should also be evident in pre-Contact Andean groups. Thoracic skeletal morphology in four groups of human skeletons (N = 347) are compared: two groups from coastal regions (Ancón, Peru, n = 79 and Arica, Chile, n = 123) and two groups from high altitudes (San Pedro de Atacama, Chile, n = 102 and Machu Picchu and Cuzco, Peru, n = 43). Osteometric variables that represent proportions of chest width and depth include sternal and clavicular lengths and breadths and rib length, curvature, and area. Each variable was measured relative to body size, transformed into logarithmic indices, and compared across sex-specific groups using ANOVA and Tukey multiple comparison tests. Atacama highlanders have the largest sternal and clavicular proportions and ribs with the greatest area and least amount of curvature, features that suggest an antero-posteriorly deep and mediolaterally wide thoracic skeleton. Ancón lowlanders exhibit proportions indicating narrower and shallower chests. Machu Picchu and Cuzco males cluster with the other highland group in rib curvature and area at the superior levels of the thorax, whereas chest proportions in Machu Picchu and Cuzco females resemble those of lowlanders. The variation in Machu Picchu and Cuzco males and females is interpreted as the result of population migrations. The presence of morphological traits indicative of enlarged chests in some highland individuals suggests that high-altitude hypoxia was an environmental stressor shaping the biology of highland Andean groups during the pre-Contact period.     

模拟高原低氧环境对小鼠脾脏铁代谢的影响*

目的:探讨模拟海拔6 000 m高原低氧环境对小鼠脾脏铁代谢的影响。方法:将C57BL/6小鼠按体重随机分为常压常氧组(Nor)和低压低氧组(HH)。HH组小鼠放置于低压低氧动物实验舱内,模拟急性海拔6 000 m高原低氧环境,控制光照时间比大约12 h∶12 h。Nor组置于同等条件的常压常氧环境。HH组又分为低氧12 h组(HH-12 h)和3 d组(HH-3 d),对照组对应分为(Nor-12 h及Nor-3 d),每组9只小鼠。采用血常规检测、HE染色、组织铁染色、蛋白质免疫印迹(WB)、免疫组织化学(IHC)综合评价模拟高原低氧环境下小鼠脾脏铁代谢情况。结果:与相同时间点Nor组相比:①HH-12 h组小鼠红细胞数(RBC)、血红蛋白量(HGB)、红细胞压积(HCT)均无明显变化。HH-3 d组RBC、HGB及HCT均显著增加(P＜0.05),平均血红蛋白量(MCH)在HH-12 h和HH-3 d组均无显著变化。②与Nor-3 d相比,HH-3 d组小鼠脾脏明显增大,HE染色显示脾窦变窄,铁染色结果显示HH-3 d组脾脏红髓中铁含量明显增加。③WB结果显示,HH-3 d组低氧诱导因子1α(HIF-1α),转铁蛋白受体1(TfR1),铁输出蛋白(Fpn)表达均显著增加,而铁蛋白(Ft-L)的表达显著降低(P＜0.05);IHC结果也与WB结果一致,高原低氧暴露3 d后脾脏红髓TfR1、Fpn表达和分布均明显增多,Ft-L表达分布明显减少。结论:模拟海拔6 000 m高原低氧暴露3 d后小鼠脾脏截留处理RBC增多,脾索铁沉积,脾脏组织细胞内铁动员加速。高原低氧下脾脏铁代谢异常可能是引起高原低氧暴露下红细胞病理性增多甚至造成高原红细胞增多症的主要原因。     

Effects of aging on the cardiac remodeling induced by chronic high-altitude hypoxia in rat

Effects of chronic high-altitude hypoxia on the remodeling of right ventricle were examined in three age groups of rats: 2, 6, and 18 mo. The extent of right ventricular (RV) hypertrophy (RVH) showed an age-associated diminution. RV cell size and pericellular fibrosis showed a significant increase in the 2- and 6-mo-old exposed rats but not in the 18-mo-old exposed rats compared with control. A hyperplasic response was underscored in the three exposed age groups but appeared less pronounced in the 18-mo-old rats. A significant decrease in the transient outward potassium current (Ito) density was observed in RV cell only in the 2-mo-old exposed group compared with the control group. In the control group, there was a clear tendency for Ito density to decrease as a function of age. The sustained outward current density was modified neither by the hypoxia condition nor by the age. Neither the cytochrome c oxidase activity nor the heat shock protein 72 content in the RV was altered after hypoxic exposure regardless of age. The norepinephrine content in the RV was significantly decreased in each age group exposed to hypoxia when compared with their age-matched control group. Our findings indicate that the remodeling (at morphological and electrophysiological levels) induced by chronic hypoxia in the RV can be decreased by the natural aging process.     

Effect of chronic hyperphenylalaninemia and hypoxia on the effectiveness of the alpha-ketoglutarate shunt in the brain

The effects of hypoxia and chronic hyperphenylalaninaemia (HPA) on the intensity of the alpha-oxoglutarate shunt in rat brain after injection of [5-14C]glutamate were investigated. The reaction of reducing carboxylation of alpha-oxoglutarate was shown to be the rate-limiting step for the whole pathway. The deceleration of this reaction under chronic HPA or, conversely, its increase under short-term heavy hypoxia led to a corresponding decrease or increase of fatty acid synthesis in the brain with [5-14C]glutamate as a radioactive precursor.     

Tibetan and Andean patterns of adaptation to high-altitude hypoxia

Understanding the workings of the evolutionary process in contemporary humans requires linking the evolutionary history of traits with their current genetics and biology. Unusual environments provide natural experimental settings to investigate evolution and adaptation. The example of high-altitude hypoxia illustrates some of the progress and many of the remaining challenges for studies of evolution in contemporary populations. Current studies exemplify the frequently encountered problem of determining whether large, consistent population differences in mean values of a trait reflect genetic differences. In this review I describe 4 quantitative traits that provide evidence that indigenous populations of the Tibetan and Andean plateaus differ in their phenotypic adaptive responses to high-altitude hypoxia. These 4 traits are resting ventilation, hypoxic ventilatory response, oxygen saturation, and hemoglobin concentration. The Tibetan means of the first 2 traits were more than 0.5 standard deviation higher than the Aymara means, whereas the Tibetan means were more than 1 standard deviation lower than the Aymara means for the last 2 traits. Quantitative genetic analyses of within-population variance revealed significant genetic variance in all 4 traits in the Tibetan population but only in hypoxic ventilatory response and hemoglobin concentration in the Aymara population. A major gene for oxygen saturation was detected among the Tibetans. These findings are interpreted as indirect evidence of population genetic differences. It appears that the biological characteristics of sea-level humans did not constrain high-altitude colonists of the 2 plateaus to a single adaptive response. Instead, microevolutionary processes may have operated differently in the geographically separated Tibetan and Andean populations exposed to the same environmental stress. Knowledge of the genetic bases of these traits will be necessary to evaluate these inferences. Future research will likely be directed toward determining whether the population means reflect differences identified at the chromosomal level. Future research will also likely consider the biological pathways and environmental influences linking genotypes to phenotypes, the costs and benefits of the Tibetan and Andean patterns of adaptation, and the question of whether the observed phenotypes are indeed adaptations that enhance Darwinian fitness.     

模拟高原低压低氧环境对大鼠心脏结构和功能影响*

目的: 探讨模拟海拔7 000 m低压低氧环境对大鼠心脏结构和功能的影响。方法: 96只雄性SD大鼠随机分为常压常氧对照组(对照组)和高原低压低氧组(低氧组)。低氧组大鼠放置于大型多因素复合环境模拟实验舱内,模拟海拔7 000 m高原环境饲养。实验舱运行时间23 h/d,控制昼夜比大约12 h∶12 h;对照组置于相同条件的常压常氧环境下饲养。低氧组又根据低氧时间不同分为3 d组、7 d组、14 d组和28 d组,同时设置与各低氧组相对应的对照组,每组均12只大鼠。应用超声心动图、心电图、血常规、血生化综合评价高原低压低氧环境下大鼠心脏结构和功能变化,心肌组织HE染色分析心肌组织病理变化。结果: 与相同时间点对照组比较①随着低压低氧暴露时间延长,大鼠体质量增长明显缓慢,动脉血氧饱和度14 d和28 d显著降低(P＜0.05)。②低氧组大鼠左心室舒张末期前壁厚度(LVAWD)及左心室舒张末期后壁厚度(LVPWD)于28 d时显著升高(P＜0.05)。舒张末期左心室腔直径(LVIDD)及收缩末期左心室腔直径(LVIDS)于28 d时明显降低(P＜0.05,P＜0.01)。左心室射血分数(EF%)、左室短轴缩短率(FS%)、肺静脉血流峰值速度(PV peak velocity)及肺静脉血流峰梯度(PV peak gradient)于低氧7 d 下降明显(P＜0.05,P＜0.01),低氧14 d 及低氧28 d 恢复。③低氧组大鼠心电图QRS间期与QT间期在14 d 及28 d 显著延长(P＜0.05,P＜0.01)。ST段3 d和7 d显著压低(P＜0.05,P＜0.01)。R波振幅于 7 d、14 d 及28 d 显著降低(P＜0.05,P＜0.01)。④低氧各组大鼠红细胞计数(RBC)、血红蛋白(HGB)、红细胞分布宽度(RDW)均明显升高(P＜0.01)。血小板计数(PLT)于14 d 及28 d 明显下降(P＜0.01)。血肌酐(CR)于14 d及28 d显著升高(P＜0.05)。⑤心肌病理提示,低氧3 d 和7 d 可见心肌水肿、肌浆凝聚,横纹不清,灶状变性和坏死伴炎性细胞浸润。低氧14 d 和28 d 心肌组织炎症性病理损伤逐渐减少。心肌细胞逐渐肥大,成纤维细胞逐渐增生。心肌间质胶原纤维逐渐增多等心肌代偿修复性病理变化显著。结论: 暴露于模拟海拔7 000 m低压低氧环境下3 d大鼠心功能明显降低,7 d最为显著。     

Physiological and genetic convergence supports hypoxia resistance in high-altitude songbirds

Skeletal muscle plays a central role in regulating glucose uptake and body metabolism; however, highland hypoxia is a severe challenge to aerobic metabolism in small endotherms. Therefore, understanding the physiological and genetic convergence of muscle hypoxia tolerance has a potential broad range of medical implications. Here we report and experimentally validate a common physiological mechanism across multiple high-altitude songbirds that improvement in insulin sensitivity contributes to glucose homeostasis, low oxygen consumption, and relative activity, and thus increases body weight. By contrast, low-altitude songbirds exhibit muscle loss, glucose intolerance, and increase energy expenditures under hypoxia. This adaptive mechanism is attributable to convergent missense mutations in the BNIP3L gene, and METTL8 gene that activates MEF2C expression in highlanders, which in turn increases hypoxia tolerance. Together, our findings from wild high-altitude songbirds suggest convergent physiological and genetic mechanisms of skeletal muscle in hypoxia resistance, which highlights the potentially medical implications of hypoxia-related metabolic diseases.     

Structural changes in the rat myocardium in the process of adaptation to high-altitude hypoxia]

Changes in the weight of diverse parts of the heart, in cross-sectional area of myocytes and vascularization of the myocardium were studied in rat experiments under altitude hypoxia (3200 m above the sea level) during adaptation of the animals to hypoxia. Morphologically, the compensatory and adaptive reactions of the rat to hypoxia were shown by its increases weight at the expense of hypertrophy of the right ventricular myocardium. Vascularization of the myocardium augmented synchronously to its growing hypertrophy.