Acid-base balance and lactatemia in acute hypoxia in normoxic or hypoxic albino rats

Albino rats Wistar family were raised since birth in normobaric hypoxic environment (10% O2 in N2). This hypoxic animal group and a normoxic control group were subjected to acute hypoxia in two spaced tests. The rats were exposed for 15 minutes to 7% O2 and later to 5% O2 gas mixture. At the end of the test with 7% O2 the hypoxic animals since birth showed a smaller quantity of blood lactate and their acid-base balance was more acid when compared to control animals. These differences were significant. In the considered metabolic parameters the differences between the 2 groups became not significant at the end of the test with 5% O2. We believe that the found differences in mentioned parameters between hypoxic and normoxic animals, also according to cellular adaptative processes, occurred during the rearing in hypoxic environment. In the test with 5% O2 the seriousness of the hypoxia overcomes the effects of adaptative mechanisms in hypoxic animals since birth. We believe that hypoxic rats since birth represent, limitedly to some aspects, different metabolic models compared to normoxic animals.