title: Supine position and sleep loss each reduce prolonged maximal voluntary ventilation.
abstract: Because of the prevalence of supine posture and sleep deprivation in both health and disease, we wondered how each of them influences prolonged maximal voluntary ventilation (MVV). Accordingly, we compared 12-second, 1-min, and 10-min isocapnic MVV supine with that measured in the upright posture in 8 healthy subjects. MVV decreased 6-10% supine, independent of test duration (p less than 0.01). Although end-expiratory lung volume was 0.47 liter lower during supine resting breathing (p less than 0.001), end-expiratory lung volumes during short-term MVV maneuvers were identical. To investigate any additional effect on MVV due to sleep loss, 12 healthy subjects performed 12-second, 1-min, and 30-min isocapnic MVV maneuvers in the supine position, either after normal sleep or after a 24-hour sleepless period. Sleep deprivation reduced MVV by 7-14%, again independent of test duration (p less than 0.05). Sleep loss also reduced the ventilation chosen to represent a submaximal (75%) breathing effect (p = 0.05), and it increased subjective ratings of fatigue and confusion (p less than 0.01). We conclude that supination and sleep deprivation together decrease both short- and long-term MVV by nearly 20%, with impairment of supination not caused by lung volume changes, and with the sleep loss effect occurring in tandem with a rise in the subjective assessment of breathing effort.
authors.affiliation: Physiology Section, Indiana University School of Medicine, Bloomington.
authors.forename: W F
authors.initials: WF
authors.lastname: Keeling
authors.forename: B J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Martin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003964:Diaphragm / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005652:Functional Residual Capacity; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008451:Maximal Voluntary Ventilation; D011187:Posture; D012892:Sleep Deprivation; D013484:Supination; D013997:Time Factors