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Effect of two durations of short-term intermittent hypoxia on ventilatory chemosensitivity in humans

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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to clarify the influence of duration of intermittent hypoxia per day on ventilatory chemosensitivity. Subjects were assigned to three different groups according to the duration of exposure to intermittent hypoxia (12.3 ± 0.2% O2): a first group (H-1, n = 6) was exposed to hypoxia for 1 h per day, the second group (H-2, n = 6) was exposed for 3 h per day, and the third (C, n = 7) was used as control. Hypoxic and hypercapnic ventilatory responses (HVR and HCVR) were determined before and after 1 week of intermittent hypoxia. HVR was increased significantly (P < 0.05) after intermittent hypoxia in both the H-1 and H-2 groups. However, there was no significant difference in magnitude of increased HVR between H-1 and H-2 groups. HCVR did not show any changes in all groups after intermittent hypoxia. These results suggest that 1 h of daily exposure is as equally effective as 3 h of daily exposure to severe hypoxia for a short period for enhancing ventilatory chemosensitivity to hypoxia.

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Acknowledgments

We appreciate the cooperation of the subjects in this study, and Prof. Y. Kanao, Dr. K. Sato, Dr. N. Hotta, and Mr. H. Matsuo for assistance during the experiment. We also acknowledge the Will Corporation for supplying equipment and technical assistance and Ms. A. Amann for reviewing the English in the manuscript. This study was supported in part by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Japanese Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture (grant no. 20700523).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Center of Health, Physical Fitness and Sports, Graduate School of Education and Human Development, Nagoya University, Furocho, Chikusaku, Nagoya, 464-8601, Japan

    Keisho Katayama & Koji Ishida

  2. Department of Hygiene and Space Medicine, Nihon University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan

    Ken-ichi Iwasaki

  3. The Faculty of Wellness, Tokai Gakuen University, Nagoya, Japan

    Miharu Miyamura

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  1. Keisho Katayama
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  2. Koji Ishida
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  3. Ken-ichi Iwasaki
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  4. Miharu Miyamura
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Correspondence to Keisho Katayama.

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Katayama, K., Ishida, K., Iwasaki, Ki. et al. Effect of two durations of short-term intermittent hypoxia on ventilatory chemosensitivity in humans. Eur J Appl Physiol 105, 815–821 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-008-0960-y

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