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Impact of 60 days of 6° head down tilt bed rest on muscular oxygen uptake and heart rate kinetics: efficacy of a reactive sledge jump countermeasure

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Abstract

Purpose

The effects of 60 days of head down tilt bed rest (HDBR) with and without the application of a reactive jump countermeasure were investigated, using a method which enables to discriminate between pulmonary (\(\dot{\text{V}}\)O2pulm) and muscular (\(\dot{\text{V}}\)O2musc) oxygen uptake kinetics to control for hemodynamic influences.

Methods

22 subjects were randomly allocated to either a group performing a reactive jumps countermeasure (JUMP; n = 11, male, 29 ± 7 years, 23.9 ± 1.3 kg m− 2) or a control group (CTRL; n = 11, male, 29 ± 6 years, 23.3 ± 2.0 kg m− 2). Heart rate (HR) and \(\dot{\text{V}}\)O2pulm were measured in response to repeated changes in work rate between 30 and 80 W before (BDC-9) and two times after HDBR (R+ 2, R+ 13). Kinetic responses of HR, \(\dot{\text{V}}\)O2pulm, and \(\dot{\text{V}}\)O2musc were assessed applying time series analysis. Higher maxima in cross-correlation functions (CCFmax(x)) between work rate and the respective parameter indicate faster kinetics responses. Statistical analysis was performed applying multifactorial analysis of variance.

Results

CCFmax(\(\dot{\text{V}}\)O2musc) and CCFmax(\(\dot{\text{V}}\)O2pulm) were not significantly different before and after HDBR (P > 0.05). CCFmax(HR) decreased following bed rest (JUMP: BDC-9: 0.30 ± 0.09 vs. R+ 2: 0.28 ± 0.06 vs. R+13: 0.28 ± 0.07; CTRL: 0.35 ± 0.09 vs. 0.27 ± 0.06 vs. 0.33 ± 0.07 P = 0.025). No significant differences between the groups were observed (P > 0.05). Significant alterations were found for CCFmax of mean arterial blood pressure (mBP) after HDBR (JUMP: BDC-9: 0.21 ± 0.07 vs. R+ 2: 0.30 ± 0.13 vs. R+ 13: 0.28 ± 0.08; CTRL: 0.25 ± 0.07 vs. 0.38 ± 0.13 vs. 0.28 ± 0.08; P = 0.008).

Conclusions

Despite hemodynamic changes, \(\dot{\text{V}}\)O2 kinetics seem to be preserved for a longer period of HDBR, even without the application of a countermeasure.

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Abbreviations

ACF:

Auto-correlation function

avDO2 :

Arterio-venous oxygen concentration difference

BDC:

Baseline data collection

CCF:

Cross-correlation function

CCFlag :

Lag between maximum of cross-correlation function and auto-correlation function

CCFmax :

Maximum of the cross-correlation function

CTRL:

Control group without countermeasure

DLR:

German Aerospace Center

ECG:

Electrocardiogram

ESA:

European Space Agency

HDBR:

Head down tilt bed rest

HDT:

Head down tilt phase

High:

High constant phase (80 W)

HR:

Heart rate

HRpeak :

Peak heart rate

JUMP:

Reactive jumps countermeasure group

Low:

Low constant phase (30 W)

mBP:

Mean blood pressure

N2O:

Nitric oxide

O2 :

Oxygen

PRBS:

Pseudo-random binary sequence

\(\dot{\text{Q}}\) :

Cardiac output

\(\dot{\text{Q}} _{{\text{rem}}}\) :

Perfusion of the non-exercising tissues

R+:

Recovery period after the bed rest phase

Rec:

Recovery phase after the work rate protocol

RER:

Respiratory exchange ratio

RSL:

Reactive jumps in a sledge jump system as a countermeasure during long-term bed rest

SF6 :

Sulfur hexafluoride

SV:

Stroke volume

\(\dot{\text{V}}\) E :

Ventilation

\(\dot{\text{V}}\)O2 :

Oxygen uptake

\(\dot{\text{V}}\)O2GET :

Oxygen uptake at the gas exchange threshold

\(\dot{\text{V}}\)O2max :

Maximal oxygen uptake

\(\dot{\text{V}}\)O2musc:

Muscular oxygen uptake

\(\dot{\text{V}}\)O2peak :

Peak oxygen uptake

\(\dot{\text{V}}\)O2pulm:

Pulmonary oxygen uptake

\(\dot{\text{V}}\)O2rem:

Oxygen uptake of the remainder of the body

V vmusc :

Venous volume

WRGET :

Work rate at the gas exchange threshold

WRpeak :

Peak work rate

τ :

Time constant

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by a research fund of the German Aerospace Center (DLR e.V.; FKZ: 50WB1426). The long-term bed rest campaigns were organized by the European Space Agency (ESA) in cooperation with the DLR at the :envihab facility in Cologne. We thank all volunteers for participation, Dr. Edwin Mulder for the coordination of the experiments, Alexandra Noppe, Dr. Melanie von der Wiesche and Andrea Nitsche for the organization of the study, Wolfram Sies and Dr. Klaus Müller for their support with the equipment, and Fabian Möller, Benedikt Deges, and Alexander Hetterle for their support during the measurements. We would also like to thank the Institute of Aerospace Medicine, Department for Space Physiology for the kind allocation of their equipment.

Funding

This study was funded by the German Aerospace Center (DLR e.V.; FKZ: 50WB1426).

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Contributions

JK, UH, and UD conceived and designed research. JK and LT conducted experiments. UD and UH contributed new analytical thoughts. JK, LT, UD, and UH analyzed data and wrote the manuscript. All the authors read and approved the manuscript.

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Correspondence to J. Koschate.

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No conflict of interest, financial or otherwise, are declared by the authors.

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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.

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

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Communicated by Phillip D Chilibeck.

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Koschate, J., Thieschäfer, L., Drescher, U. et al. Impact of 60 days of 6° head down tilt bed rest on muscular oxygen uptake and heart rate kinetics: efficacy of a reactive sledge jump countermeasure. Eur J Appl Physiol 118, 1885–1901 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-018-3915-y

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