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Haemodynamic Adaptive Mechanisms at High Altitude: Comparison between European Lowlanders and Nepalese Highlanders

Background: Exposure to high altitudes determines several adaptive mechanisms affecting in a complex way the whole cardiovascular, respiratory, endocrine systems because of the hypobaric hypoxic condition. The aim of our study was to evaluate the circulatory adaptive mechanisms at high altitudes, du...

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Autores principales: Salvi, Paolo, Grillo, Andrea, Gautier, Sylvie, Montaguti, Luca, Brunacci, Fausto, Severi, Francesca, Salvi, Lucia, Pretolani, Enzo, Parati, Gianfranco, Benetos, Athanase
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9267920/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35807128
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/jcm11133843
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author Salvi, Paolo
Grillo, Andrea
Gautier, Sylvie
Montaguti, Luca
Brunacci, Fausto
Severi, Francesca
Salvi, Lucia
Pretolani, Enzo
Parati, Gianfranco
Benetos, Athanase
author_facet Salvi, Paolo
Grillo, Andrea
Gautier, Sylvie
Montaguti, Luca
Brunacci, Fausto
Severi, Francesca
Salvi, Lucia
Pretolani, Enzo
Parati, Gianfranco
Benetos, Athanase
author_sort Salvi, Paolo
collection PubMed
description Background: Exposure to high altitudes determines several adaptive mechanisms affecting in a complex way the whole cardiovascular, respiratory, endocrine systems because of the hypobaric hypoxic condition. The aim of our study was to evaluate the circulatory adaptive mechanisms at high altitudes, during a scientific expedition in the Himalayas. Methods: Arterial distensibility was assessed measuring carotid-radial and carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity. Tests were carried out at several altitudes, from 1350 to 5050 m above sea level, on 8 lowlander European researchers and 11 highlander Nepalese porters. Results: In Europeans, systolic blood pressure and pulse pressure increased slightly but significantly with altitude (p < 0.05 and p < 0.001, respectively). Norepinephrine showed a significant increase after the lowlanders had spent some time at high altitude (p < 0.001). With increasing altitude, a progressive increase in carotid-radial and carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity values was observed in lowlanders, showing a particularly significant increase (p < 0.001) after staying at high altitude (carotid-radial pulse wave velocity, median value (interquartile range) from 9.2 (7.9–10.0) to 11.2 (10.9–11.8) m/s and carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity from 8.5 (7.9–9.0) to 11.3 (10.9–11.8) m/s). At high altitudes (3400 and 5050 m above sea level), no significant differences were observed between highlanders and lowlanders in hemodynamic parameters (blood pressure, carotid-radial and carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity). Conclusions: The progressive arterial stiffening with altitude observed in European lowlanders could explain the increase in systolic and pulse pressure values observed at high altitudes in this ethnic group. Further studies are needed to evaluate the role of aortic stiffening in the pathogenesis of acute mountain sickness.
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spelling pubmed-92679202022-07-09 Haemodynamic Adaptive Mechanisms at High Altitude: Comparison between European Lowlanders and Nepalese Highlanders Salvi, Paolo Grillo, Andrea Gautier, Sylvie Montaguti, Luca Brunacci, Fausto Severi, Francesca Salvi, Lucia Pretolani, Enzo Parati, Gianfranco Benetos, Athanase J Clin Med Article Background: Exposure to high altitudes determines several adaptive mechanisms affecting in a complex way the whole cardiovascular, respiratory, endocrine systems because of the hypobaric hypoxic condition. The aim of our study was to evaluate the circulatory adaptive mechanisms at high altitudes, during a scientific expedition in the Himalayas. Methods: Arterial distensibility was assessed measuring carotid-radial and carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity. Tests were carried out at several altitudes, from 1350 to 5050 m above sea level, on 8 lowlander European researchers and 11 highlander Nepalese porters. Results: In Europeans, systolic blood pressure and pulse pressure increased slightly but significantly with altitude (p < 0.05 and p < 0.001, respectively). Norepinephrine showed a significant increase after the lowlanders had spent some time at high altitude (p < 0.001). With increasing altitude, a progressive increase in carotid-radial and carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity values was observed in lowlanders, showing a particularly significant increase (p < 0.001) after staying at high altitude (carotid-radial pulse wave velocity, median value (interquartile range) from 9.2 (7.9–10.0) to 11.2 (10.9–11.8) m/s and carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity from 8.5 (7.9–9.0) to 11.3 (10.9–11.8) m/s). At high altitudes (3400 and 5050 m above sea level), no significant differences were observed between highlanders and lowlanders in hemodynamic parameters (blood pressure, carotid-radial and carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity). Conclusions: The progressive arterial stiffening with altitude observed in European lowlanders could explain the increase in systolic and pulse pressure values observed at high altitudes in this ethnic group. Further studies are needed to evaluate the role of aortic stiffening in the pathogenesis of acute mountain sickness. MDPI 2022-07-02 /pmc/articles/PMC9267920/ /pubmed/35807128 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/jcm11133843 Text en © 2022 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Salvi, Paolo
Grillo, Andrea
Gautier, Sylvie
Montaguti, Luca
Brunacci, Fausto
Severi, Francesca
Salvi, Lucia
Pretolani, Enzo
Parati, Gianfranco
Benetos, Athanase
Haemodynamic Adaptive Mechanisms at High Altitude: Comparison between European Lowlanders and Nepalese Highlanders
title Haemodynamic Adaptive Mechanisms at High Altitude: Comparison between European Lowlanders and Nepalese Highlanders
title_full Haemodynamic Adaptive Mechanisms at High Altitude: Comparison between European Lowlanders and Nepalese Highlanders
title_fullStr Haemodynamic Adaptive Mechanisms at High Altitude: Comparison between European Lowlanders and Nepalese Highlanders
title_full_unstemmed Haemodynamic Adaptive Mechanisms at High Altitude: Comparison between European Lowlanders and Nepalese Highlanders
title_short Haemodynamic Adaptive Mechanisms at High Altitude: Comparison between European Lowlanders and Nepalese Highlanders
title_sort haemodynamic adaptive mechanisms at high altitude: comparison between european lowlanders and nepalese highlanders
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9267920/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35807128
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/jcm11133843
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