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Intermittent hypoxia revisited: a promising non-pharmaceutical strategy to reduce cardio-metabolic risk factors?

  • Hypoxia • Short Communication
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Abstract

Purpose

The study aims to investigate the effects of moderate intermittent hypoxia (IH) on key cardio-metabolic risk factors in overweight and obese subjects.

Methods

Six subjects were exposed to 10 sessions of moderate IH over 2 weeks (based on \( \overline{SpO_2}=80\% \); ~70 min per session). Measures were made of blood glucose (GLU) and lactate (La−); high (HDLc) and low-density lipoproteins (LDLc); triglycerides (TRG), systolic (SBP), and diastolic blood pressure (DBP); and cardiac autonomic indices [root mean square of successive R-R interval differences (RMSSD) and short-term fractal scaling exponent (DFAα1)].

Results

GLU decreased and La− increased following a single IH session (6.21 ± 1.62 vs. 5.32 ± 1.03 mmol L−1; p < 0.05; 1.14 ± 0.21 vs. 1.47 ± 0.22 mmol L−1), but no sustained change after 10 sessions of IH occurred (p > 0.05). Conversely, LDLc (3.00 ± 0.68 vs. 2.51 ± 0.60 mmol L−1; p < 0.05), LDLc/HDLc ratio (2.52 ± 0.66 vs. 2.26 ± 0.70 mmol L−1; p < 0.05), and SBP (118.6 ± 13.3 vs. 109.6 ± 11.3 mmHg; p < 0.05) were all significantly decreased after 10 sessions.

Conclusion

A short course of recurrent IH appears to be a safe and effective non-pharmacological method of reducing key cardiovascular risk factors associated with metabolic disorders.

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Acknowledgements

The investigators would like to thank Dr. Surendran Sabapathy and Dr. Devansh for their help during the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Sport Sciences, CETAPS Laboratory, EA 3832, Normandy University, Rouen, France

    Guillaume Costalat & Frederic Lemaitre

  2. Faculty of Sport Sciences, APERE Laboratory, EA 3300, University of Picardie Jules Verne, Amiens, France

    Guillaume Costalat

  3. Hypoxia and Ischemia Research Unit, School of Rehabilitation Sciences, Griffith University Gold Coast Campus, Southport, Queensland, Australia

    Barbara Tobin & Gillian Renshaw

Authors
  1. Guillaume Costalat
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  2. Frederic Lemaitre
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  3. Barbara Tobin
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  4. Gillian Renshaw
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Guillaume Costalat.

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Funding

Funding was provided by an internal grant from Griffith University.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Costalat, G., Lemaitre, F., Tobin, B. et al. Intermittent hypoxia revisited: a promising non-pharmaceutical strategy to reduce cardio-metabolic risk factors?. Sleep Breath 22, 267–271 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11325-017-1459-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11325-017-1459-8

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