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A role for succinate dehydrogenase genes in low chemoresponsiveness to hypoxia?

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Abstract

The detection of hypoxia by the carotid bodies elicits a ventilatory response of utmost importance for tolerance to high altitude. Germline mutations in three genes encoding subunit B, C and D of succinate dehydrogenase (SDHB, SDHC and SDHD) have been associated with paragangliomas of the carotid body. We hypothesized that SDH dysfunction within the carotid body could result in low chemoresponsiveness and intolerance to high altitude. The frequency of polymorphisms of SDHs, hypoxia-inducible factor type 1 (HIF1α) and angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) genes was compared between 40 subjects with intolerance to high altitude and a low hypoxic ventilatory response at exercise (HVRe ≤ 0.5 ml min−1 kg−1; HVR− group) and 41 subjects without intolerance to high altitude and a high HVRe (≥0.80 ml min−1 kg−1; HVR+). We found no significant association between low or high HVRe and (1) the allele frequencies for nine single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the SDHD and SDHB genes, (2) the ACE insertion/deletion polymorphism and (3) four SNPs in the HIF1α gene. However, a marginal significant association was found between the synonymous polymorphism c.18A>C of the SDHB gene and chemoresponsiveness: 8/40 (20%) in the HVR− group and 3/41 (7%) in the HVR+ group (p = 0.12). A principal component analysis showed that no subject carrying the 18C allele had both high ventilatory and cardiac response to hypoxia. In conclusion, no clear association was found between gene variants involved in oxygen sensing and chemoresponsiveness, although some mutations in the SDHB and SDHD genes deserve further investigations in a larger population.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the nurses of the Centre d’Investigations Cliniques and the technicians of the molecular genetic laboratory at the Hôpital Européen Georges Pompidou for their technical support. This study was supported by a grant delivered by the Société Française d’Hypertension Artérielle and promoted by the Société Française de Cardiologie.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Université Paris 13, UFR SMBH EA2363, 74 Rue Marcel Cachin, 93017, Bobigny Cedex, France

    Jean-Paul Richalet

  2. AP-HP, Hôpital Avicenne, Service de Physiologie, Explorations Fonctionnelles et Médecine du Sport, Bobigny, France

    Jean-Paul Richalet

  3. AP-HP, Hôpital Necker, UF de Pharmacologie Clinique, 75015, Paris, France

    Jean-Luc Elghozi

  4. AP-HP, Hôpital Européen Georges Pompidou, Département de Génétique, Paris, France

    Anne-Paule Gimenez-Roqueplo, Annabelle Vénisse, Nelly Burnichon & Xavier Jeunemaitre

  5. INSERM, Unité 970, Paris, France

    Anne-Paule Gimenez-Roqueplo, Annabelle Vénisse, Nelly Burnichon & Xavier Jeunemaitre

  6. Collège de France, Paris, France

    Anne-Paule Gimenez-Roqueplo, Annabelle Vénisse, Nelly Burnichon & Xavier Jeunemaitre

  7. AP-HP, Hôpital Européen Georges Pompidou, Centre d’Investigations Cliniques 9201, Paris, France

    Séverine Peyrard, Laure Marelle, Nelly Burnichon & Michel Azizi

  8. INSERM, Centre d’Investigations Cliniques 9201, Paris, France

    Séverine Peyrard & Michel Azizi

  9. Université Paris Descartes, Paris, France

    Anne-Paule Gimenez-Roqueplo, Séverine Peyrard, Annabelle Vénisse, Xavier Jeunemaitre, Michel Azizi & Jean-Luc Elghozi

  10. Société Française de Cardiologie, Paris, France

    Anissa Bouzamondo

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  1. Jean-Paul Richalet
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Correspondence to Jean-Paul Richalet.

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Richalet, JP., Gimenez-Roqueplo, AP., Peyrard, S. et al. A role for succinate dehydrogenase genes in low chemoresponsiveness to hypoxia?. Clin Auton Res 19, 335–342 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10286-009-0028-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10286-009-0028-z

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