Intermittent Short-Duration Re-oxygenation Attenuates Cardiac Changes in Response to Hypoxia: Histological, Ultrastructural and Oxidant/Antioxidant Parameters

Context: Intermittent short-duration re-oxygenation attenuates cardiac changes in response to hypoxia. Objective: To see if intermittent short-duration re-oxygenation may protect the heart muscle from hypoxia damage. Materials and Methods: Eighteen albino rats were used to carry out the study. Rats divided into: (normoxia); rats exposed to room air as a control, second (hypoxic) group; rats subjected to a pressure of 405 mmHg in a hypobaric chamber to simulate hypoxia at 5,000 m, and third (intermittent short-duration re-oxygenation); rats exposed to room air three times per day. Experiments were all 14 days long. Results: Hypoxia enhanced the oxidative stress biomarker malondialdehyde while lowering the antioxidant superoxide dismutase . The levels of tumour necrosis factor (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) in the myocardium were elevated in hypoxic hearts. The hypoxic rats’ cardiac myofibrils showed disarray of muscle fibres, vacuolation of the sarcoplasm, pyknosis of the nucleus, and expansion of intercellular gaps on histological examination. In addition, cardiomyocytes showed degenerative defects in ventricular myocardial cells on ultrastructural analysis. Myofibril thinning and degenerative mitochondrial changes affected intercalated discs with fascia adherent, desmosomes, and gap junction. Intermittent short-duration re-oxygenation improve cardiac histological, ultrastructural and oxidant/antioxidant parameters changes during hypoxia. Conclusion: Hypoxia showed a substantial impact on myocardial architecture, as well as increased oxidative stress and pro-inflammatory cytokines. Intermittent short-duration re-oxygenation significantly decreases hypoxia-induced cardiac changes.