Chronic intermittent hypoxia, a characteristic feature of sleep-disordered breathing, induces hypertension through augmented sympathetic nerve activity and requires the presence of functional carotid body arterial chemoreceptors. In contrast, chronic sustained hypoxia does not alter blood pressure. We therefore analyzed the biosynthetic pathways of catecholamines in peripheral nervous system st...

BACKGROUND Intermittent hypoxia has been suggested to increase exercise tolerance by enhancing stress resistance and improving oxygen delivery. Because the improvement of exercise tolerance reduces mortality in the elderly with and without coronary artery disease intermittent hypoxia might be a valuable preventive and therapeutic tool. However, controlled studies are lacking. METHODS AND RESU...

When hypoxia increases during ascending in the mountains, ventilatory control and the related oxygenation may be challenged. The pre-treatment by intermittent hypoxia will elevate ventilation and offset hypoxemia and acetazolamide may inhibit peripheral chemosensitivity and act through central mechanisms. To study these effects in the field, one well-trained male mountaineer performed four asce...

23 24 Breathing-disordered states, such as in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), which are cyclical in 25 nature, have been postulated to induce neurocognitive morbidity in both pediatric and adult 26 populations. The oscillatory nature of intermittent hypoxia, especially when chronic, may mimic 27 the paradigm of ischemia/reperfusion in that tissues and cells are exposed to episodes of low and 28 ...

Breathing-disordered states, such as in obstructive sleep apnea, which are cyclical in nature, have been postulated to induce neurocognitive morbidity in both pediatric and adult populations. The oscillatory nature of intermittent hypoxia, especially when chronic, may mimic the paradigm of ischemia-reperfusion in that tissues and cells are exposed to episodes of low and high O(2) and this may l...

BACKGROUND Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is known to be a risk factor of coronary artery disease. The chemotaxis and adhesion of monocytes to the endothelium in the early atherosclerosis is important. This study aimed to investigate the effect of intermittent hypoxia, the hallmark of OSA, on the chemotaxis and adhesion of monocytes. METHODS Peripheral blood was sampled from 54 adults enrolled...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW Perioperative opioid-based pain management of patients suffering from obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) may present challenges because of concerns over severe ventilatory compromise. The interaction between intermittent hypoxia, sleep fragmentation, pain, and opioid responses in OSA, is complex and warrants a special focus of perioperative outcomes research. RECENT FINDINGS Life...

Hypoxia is a common feature in tumors associated with an increased resistance of tumor cells to therapies. In addition to O(2) diffusion-limited hypoxia, another form of tumor hypoxia characterized by fluctuating changes in pO(2) within the disorganized tumor vascular network is described. Here, we postulated that this form of intermittent hypoxia promotes endothelial cell survival, thereby ext...

BACKGROUND Preconditioning phenomena provide evidence for adaptive responses to ischemia that have important implications for treatment/prevention of myocardial infarction. Hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1) mediates adaptive transcriptional responses to hypoxia/ischemia. METHODS AND RESULTS Exposure of wild-type mice to intermittent hypoxia resulted in protection of isolated hearts against i...