Role of the peripheral chemoreflex in the early stages of ventilatory acclimatization to altitude.
This review of ventilatory acclimatization to altitude/hypoxia (VAH) emphasizes the widely differing timescales that VAH is considered to encompass. The review concludes: (1) that early (24-48h) VAH is unlikely to arise as a reaction to the respiratory alkalosis that is normally associated with exposure to hypoxia; (2) that changes in peripheral chemoreflex function may be sufficiently rapid to explain early VAH; (3) that alterations in gene expression induced by hypoxia through the hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) signalling pathway may underlie a major component of VAH; and (4) that compensatory adjustments to acid-base balance in response to the initial respiratory alkalosis may have more significance for the slower changes observed later in VAH.
Robbins
Peter A
PA
Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PT, UK. peter.robbins@dpag.ox.ac.uk
D000064:Acclimatization / Q000502:physiology*; D000136:Acid-Base Equilibrium / Q000502:physiology; D000531:Altitude; D000818:Animals; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000097:blood; D002628:Chemoreceptor Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D000860:Hypoxia / Q000378:metabolism*; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D017933:Peripheral Nervous System / Q000502:physiology; D012123:Pulmonary Ventilation / Q000502:physiology*; D012018:Reflex / Q000502:physiology; D013997:Time Factors
D002245:Carbon Dioxide; D010100:Oxygen