Strain and sex differences in the cardiopulmonary adaptation of rats to high altitude

To the extreme! How biological anthropology can inform exercise physiology in extreme environments

The fields of biological anthropology and exercise physiology are closely related and can provide mutually beneficial insights into human performance. These fields often use similar methods and are both interested in how humans function, perform, and respond in extreme environments. However, these two fields have different perspectives, ask different questions, and work within different theoretical frameworks and timescales. Biological anthropologists and exercise physiologists can greatly benefit from working together when examining human adaptation, acclimatization, and athletic performance in the extremes of heat, cold, and high-altitude. Here we review the adaptations and acclimatizations in these three different extreme environments. We then examine how this work has informed and built upon exercise physiology research on human performance. Finally, we present an agenda for moving forward, hopefully, with these two fields working more closely together to produce innovative research that improves our holistic understanding of human performance capacities informed by evolutionary theory, modern human acclimatization, and the desire to produce immediate and direct benefits.

Penetrance of Severe Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension in Response to Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor 2 Blockade in a Genetically Prone Rat Model Is Reduced by Female Sex

Background We have previously reported important strain differences in response to SU5416 (SU, a vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 inhibitor) in rats and have identified a specific colony of Sprague-Dawley rats that are hyperresponsive (SDHR) to SU alone and develop severe pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) with a single injection of SU, even in the absence of hypoxia. Interestingly, SDHR rats exhibit incomplete penetrance of the severe PAH phenotype with an "all-or-none" response to SU alone, which provides a unique opportunity to assess the influence of female sex and sex hormones on susceptibility to PAH after endothelial injury in a genetically prone model. Methods and Results SDHR rats were injected with SU (20 mg/kg SC) and, in the absence of hypoxia, 72% of male but only 27% of female rats developed severe PAH at 7 weeks, which was associated with persistent endothelial cell apoptosis. This sex difference in susceptibility for severe PAH was abolished by ovariectomy. Estradiol replacement, beginning 2 days before SU (prevention), inhibited lung endothelial cell apoptosis and completely abrogated severe PAH phenotype in both male and ovariectomized female rats, while progesterone was only protective in ovariectomized female rats. In contrast, delayed treatment of SDHR rats with established PAH with estradiol or progesterone (initiated at 4 weeks post-SU) failed to reduce lung endothelial cell apoptosis or improve PAH phenotype. Conclusions Female sex hormones markedly reduced susceptibility for the severe PAH phenotype in response to SU alone in a hyperresponsive rat strain by abolishing SU-induced endothelial cell apoptosis, but did not reverse severe PAH in established disease.

Systemic Oxygen Transport with Rest, Exercise, and Hypoxia: A Comparison of Humans, Rats, and Mice

The objective of this article is to compare and contrast the known characteristics of the systemic O₂ transport of humans, rats, and mice at rest and during exercise in normoxia and hypoxia. This analysis should help understand when rodent O₂ transport findings can-and cannot-be applied to human responses to similar conditions. The O₂ -transport system was analyzed as composed of four linked conductances: ventilation, alveolo-capillary diffusion, circulatory convection, and tissue capillary-cell diffusion. While the mechanisms of O₂ transport are similar in the three species, the quantitative differences are naturally large. There are abundant data on total O₂ consumption and on ventilatory and pulmonary diffusive conductances under resting conditions in the three species; however, there is much less available information on pulmonary gas exchange, circulatory O₂ convection, and tissue O₂ diffusion in mice. The scarcity of data largely derives from the difficulty of obtaining blood samples in these small animals and highlights the need for additional research in this area. In spite of the large quantitative differences in absolute and mass-specific O₂ flux, available evidence indicates that resting alveolar and arterial and venous blood PO₂ values under normoxia are similar in the three species. Additionally, at least in rats, alveolar and arterial blood PO₂ under hypoxia and exercise remain closer to the resting values than those observed in humans. This is achieved by a greater ventilatory response, coupled with a closer value of arterial to alveolar PO₂ , suggesting a greater efficacy of gas exchange in the rats. © 2018 American Physiological Society. Compr Physiol 8:1537-1573, 2018.

Gender and the circadian pattern of body temperature in normoxia and hypoxia

Circadian patterns are at the core of many physiological processes, and their disruption can have short- and long-term consequences. This essay focuses on one of the best known patterns, the daily oscillation of body temperature (Tb), and the possibility of its difference between genders. From human and animal studies globally considered, the tentative conclusion is reached that differences in Tb circadian pattern between genders are very small and probably limited to the timing of the rhythm, not to its amplitude. Such similarity between genders, despite the differences in hormonal systems, presumably testifies to the importance that the Tb circadian pattern plays in the economy of the organism and its survival against environmental challenges. The second part of the article presents some previously unpublished experimental data from behaving male and female rats during hypoxia in synchronized conditions. In adult rats hypoxia (10.5% O₂ for three days) caused a profound drop of the Tb daily oscillations; by day 3 they were 55% (♀) and 22% (♂) of the normoxic amplitudes, with a statistically significant gender difference. In pre-puberty rats (26-day old) hypoxia caused a major disruption of the circadian pattern qualitatively similar to the adults but not different between genders. Hence, on the basis of this preliminary set of data, it seems that sex-hormones may be a factor in how the Tb daily pattern responds to hypoxia. The implications of the effects of hypoxia on the circadian patterns, and the possibility that such effects may differ between genders, are matters that could have biological and clinical implications and deserve further investigations.

Impaired acclimatization to chronic hypoxia in adult male and female rats following neonatal hypoxia

We tested the hypothesis that neonatal exposure to hypoxia alters acclimatization to chronic hypoxia later in life. Rat pups were exposed to normobaric hypoxia (12% O(2); nHx group) in a sealed chamber, or to normoxia (21% O(2); nNx group) from the day before birth to postnatal day 10. The animals were then raised in normal conditions until reaching 12 wk of age. At this age, we assessed ventilatory and hematological acclimatization to chronic hypoxia by exposing male and female nHx and nNx rats for 2 wk to 10% O(2). Minute ventilation, metabolic rate, hypoxic ventilatory response, hematocrit, and hemoglobin levels were measured both before and after acclimatization. We also quantified right ventricular hypertrophy as an index of pulmonary hypertension both before and after acclimatization. There was a significant effect of neonatal hypoxia that decreases ventilatory response (relative to metabolic rate, VE/VCO(2)) to acute hypoxia before acclimatization in males but not in females. nHx rats had an impaired acclimatization to chronic hypoxia characterized by altered respiratory pattern and elevated hematocrit and hemoglobin levels after acclimatization, in both males and females. Right ventricular hypertrophy was present before and after acclimatization in nHx rats, indicating that neonatal hypoxia results in pulmonary hypertension in adults. We conclude that neonatal hypoxia impairs acclimatization to chronic hypoxia in adults and may be a factor contributing to the establishment of chronic mountain sickness in humans living at high altitude.

Epidemiology, Risk Factors, and Genetics of High-Altitude–Related Pulmonary Disease

High-altitude-related pulmonary disease is a spectrum of acute and chronic illnesses with a well-described epidemiology. The risk for these illnesses is related to well-known environmental risk factors and lesser-known but important genetic factors. Prevention of acute high-altitude illness is possible in most visitors from lower elevations. Chronic high-altitude illnesses have an important worldwide impact.

Intratracheal Administration of Bleomycin via a Catheter in Unanesthetized Rats

In order to ensure a widespread distribution in the lung and to avoid the effect of anesthesia, bleomycin at a total dose of 4.5 or 6.0 mg/kg was administered in four divided doses (0.5 ml/kg/time) at intervals of 2 h to male rats via a catheter (tracheotomy tube) without anesthesia. In comparison to vehicle (saline) controls, bleomycin-treated rats showed a significant suppression of body weight gain that was observed transiently at 4.5 mg/kg and continuously (throughout the 3-week observation period) at 6.0 mg/kg. Histopathologically, interstitial pneumonitis, thickening of alveolar walls, thickening of pulmonary arterial walls, foamy cells in alveoli, and hemorrhage were observed in both 4.5 and 6 mg/kg groups, and also emphysema in the 6 mg/kg group. Both groups exhibited a significant decrease in the partial pressure of arterial oxygen (PaO(2)) and a significant increase in alveolar-arterial oxygen tension difference (AaDO(2)), and a significant increase in erythrocyte count was observed in the 6 mg/kg group. Furthermore, both treated groups showed a significant increase in the ratio of the right ventricular weight versus left ventricle plus septum weights. The significant increase in erythrocyte count might have been caused by diffusion disturbance and ventilation-perfusion imbalance due to the pulmonary damage. These findings suggest that the present experimental method will be useful for clarification of the pulmonary damage induced by bleomycin in rats.

The piglet as an animal model for hypobaric hypoxia

The objective of this study was to evaluate the piglet as a suitable animal model for human diseases of high altitude. We studied 12 piglets, 4-10 weeks old, in a hypobaric chamber under conditions of high altitude at a pressure of 1/2 atmosphere (to approximately 320 Torr) for various periods of time (12, 24, 36, 48, and 72 hours) with continuous monitoring. The animals were decompressed every 24 hours for grooming and feeding. Two animals were studied as nonexposed controls, and one was studied as a control in the chamber without decompression. The animals were euthanized after the exposure, and a complete autopsy was performed. The tissues were then analyzed with light and electron microscopy. The animals all exhibited clinical features of ataxia, tachypnea with Cheyne-Stokes respiration, and lethargy. One animal vomited. The histologic and ultrastructural analysis showed normal organs, particularly lung and brain. The piglet may be a suitable animal model for the study of high altitude-related diseases in humans, but prolonged uninterrupted exposure and a delay in euthanasia after exposure to high altitude may be necessary for the development of reactive pathologic changes.

Alterations in respiratory behavior, brain neurochemistry and receptor density induced by pharmacologic suppression of sleep in the neonatal period

The present study examined if drug suppression of active sleep (AS) in the neonate affected the development and expression of respiratory behavior. Secondly, we assessed brain neurochemistry and receptor density in specific supra-medullary brain regions to identify coincident biochemical alterations. Sprague-Dawley newborn rat pups were randomized and divided among six rat mothers (n=10/mother/group), each mother housed separately. Two untreated control (UC) groups received either no interventions or were fed milk vehicle twice daily and were handled similarly to the drug intervention animals. Pharmacological disruption of sleep was achieved by administration (2 groups of each) of either clonidine (CLO) 100 microm/kg, or scopolamine (SCO) 800 microm/kg, given orally twice daily for the first 7 days of life. On postnatal (P) days P10 and P19 of life, pups were assessed for metabolism, minute ventilation (VE), tidal volume (Vt) and frequency (f). On P21 (14 days after the end of drug exposure), pups from each condition were sacrificed and punch biopsies of the frontal cortex, hypothalamus, and hippocampus were examined for hydroxytryptophan (5-HT), and norepinepherine (NE) by HPLC. An equal number of pups were sacrificed and brains examined for muscarinic acetylcholine (mAch), alpha2-adrenergic and I1-imidazoline receptor density.

RESULTS

Both CLO and SCO exposed animals had a lower V(t) and respiratory quotient than UC animals (p<0.01). CLO animals exhibited a higher f (p<0.01) and both CLO and SCO exhibited a lower V(t) (p<0.05) than the UC groups; VE was reduced in the SCO groups, compared with CLO and UC groups (p<0.01). Pattern of breathing in response to brief hypoxia exposure was altered for CLO and SCO. The normal decline in VE during sleep was not observed in CLO rats. Both drug exposures resulted in a comparable reduction in hypothalamic NE and 5-HT levels (p<0.05), while in the frontal cortex, and the hippocampus variable changes in NE and 5-HT, occurred. In CLO and SCO rats mAch receptors were increased in cortex, and reduced in hypothalamus; I1-imidazoline receptors were increased in hypothalamus and decreased in hippocampus (p<0.05 for each). In contrast, alpha2-adrenergic receptors were increased in cortex for both CLO and SCO, decreased in hypothalamus for CLO, and decreased in hippocampus for SCO (p<0.05 for each).

CONCLUSIONS

these data show that drug-induced neonatal sleep suppression will alter ventilatory pattern, metabolism, and site-specific concentrations of adrenergic neurotransmitters and in receptor density, perhaps as a result of suppression of neonatal AS.

Effect of gender on thermoregulation and survival of hypoxic rats

1. Hypothermia is a documented response to hypoxia but little is known about possible gender differences. Because female rats have a greater hypoxic ventilatory response than males, we hypothesized that females would be more tolerant of hypoxia. We studied 18 female and 18 male Long-Evans rats. 2. Radiotelemetry transmitters for body temperature (Tb) were implanted under general anaesthesia (90 mg/mL ketamine and 10 mg/mL xylazine; 0.1 mL/100 g bodyweight, i.p.). 3. Rats were exposed to 21, 16, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4 and 2% O2 (balance N2) for 30 min each in chambers kept at either 31 degrees C (clamped) or 20 degrees C (hypothermic). Survival was defined as ataxic and unresponsive. 4. Females were more hypoxia tolerant than males, often enduring 2% inspired O2 (13 km altitude). 5. This was correlated with a lower Tb in the hypothermic group, but not in the clamped group. 6. Hypothermia increased 'survival' of rats independent of gender. 7. When Tb was clamped, female rats showed significantly greater survival than males. 8. Thus, separate mechanisms (hypothermia or ventilation) may be acting to increase tolerance of clamped and hypothermic female rats to severe hypoxia.

Oxygen dependence of mitochondrial function measured by high-resolution respirometry in long-term hypoxic rats

Respiration and oxidative phosphorylation were investigated in tightly coupled mitochondria isolated from liver and heart of rats submitted to a simulated altitude of 4,400 m for 14-15 mo and their corresponding controls at sea level. High-resolution respirometry was utilized to determine the apparent Michaelis-Menten constant for ADP and O2 (K(m)-ADP and K(m)-O2, respectively), the latter under active and resting states of mitochondrial respiration. The K(m)-O2 in mitochondria isolated from normoxic rats was higher for active (state 3) than for resting (state 4) respiration; the values decreased from 1.5 and 1.7 to 0.25 and 0.30 microM in heart and liver mitochondria, respectively. The K(m)-O2 values found in the active state suggest a role for the normally occurring intracellular PO2 range reported in the literature in the regulation of cellular respiration. No changes were found in the ADP or O2 dependence of respiration in the mitochondria isolated from long-term acclimatized rats compared with their controls, indicating that the intrinsic properties and the efficiency of mitochondria do not change as a consequence of adaptation to hypoxia.

Aerobic capacity and skeletal muscle properties of normoxic and hypoxic rats in response to training

The aim of this study was to determine, in the rat, the effects of chronic exposure (7-9 weeks) to normobaric hypoxia (FIO2=0.13, equivalent to 3700 m altitude) on cardiac and skeletal muscle properties, on maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max), and endurance time to exhaustion (ETE). In addition, we evaluated the impact of endurance training (90 min of treadmill running per day, 5 days per week, for 9 weeks) on these parameters. The results were compared to normoxic rats fed ad libitum (NAL) and to normoxic pair-weight (NPW) animals in order to take into account the influence of hypoxia on growth rate. It was found that, in sedentary rats, hypoxia results in stunted growth, adrenal atrophy, a significant reduction of cross-sectional area of fast-twitch (type II) fibres, a reduced capillary-to-fibre ratio (C/F), and a reduced oxidative capacity (decreases in citrate synthase and 3-hydroxy-Acyl CoA dehydrogenase activities) of the plantaris muscle. These effects are mainly related to the anorexic effects of prolonged exposure to hypoxia. Nevertheless, hypoxic (H) rats displayed higher VO2max and ETE values when compared either to NAL or to NPW animals. Endurance training resulted, in all groups (H, NAL, NPW), in a significant change of the fibre type distribution of the plantaris which displayed an increased number of type IIA fibres and a decreased proportion of type IIB fibres. In addition, the C/F ratio and cross-sectional area of fast-twitch fibres were normalized by superimposition of training on hypoxia. Both VO2max and ETE were significantly higher in trained H rats than in NAL, but these improvements were mainly related to the reduced body weight induced by hypoxia. These data suggest that the greater aerobic capacity and tolerance for prolonged exercise induced by chronic exposure to hypoxia can be mainly accounted for by the anorexic effects of hypoxia, although other factors (e.g. increase in oxygen carrying capacity induced by hypoxia acclimatization) may play a significant role in some circumstances (e.g. in sedentary rats).

Glucocorticoid response and adrenal lipid peroxidation in rats submitted to chronic hypobaric hypoxia

The well known physiological changes that occur in adaptation to chronic hypobaric hypoxia (CHH) prevent the fall in arterial blood oxygen pressure below normal limits but neither the ventilatory nor the circulatory adaptation are able to maintain a normal capillary blood pO2. We report here our findings on adrenal histology, function, and lipid peroxidation in intact and castrated rats of both sexes submitted to twelve weeks of adaptation to 4,400 m simulated altitude. In the CHH rats hematocrit was increased; adrenal weight was increased in males and decreased in castrated females. Adrenal histology and histochemistry were normal. Corticosterone level and uric acid were unchanged except in castrated animals: corticosterone was decreased in males and increased in females. Uric acid was increased in castrated males, the only group in which adrenal lipid peroxidation was unaffected by castration. In the remaining groups, it was diminished compared to their intact controls. Intact normoxic males showed a significant direct correlation between plasmatic lipoperoxidation products (TBA-reactive substances) and uric acid (r = 0.961), which disappeared under hypoxia or with castration. Sex related differences were found in hematocrit and adrenal weight responses. The presence of androgens was involved in the adaptative response of cortical and reticular histometry, lipid peroxidation, and corticosterone level. These results do not support Selye's hypothesis of exhausted adrenal glands in chronic stages of adaptation and suggest that a proper relation between adrenal and gonadal steroids hormones is essential for systemic and tissular responses to diminished oxygen supply.

Hepatic cytochrome P-450 in rats submitted to chronic hypobaric hypoxia

Hepatic cytochrome P-450 content in adaptation to hypobaric hypoxia was studied in three groups of rats and in their respective controls at sea level atmospheric pressure. The experimental groups were as follows: 1) young male and female rats submitted to 4,400 m (simulated altitude) for 6-8 mo, 2) the same animal model of group 1 submitted to 5,500 m (simulated altitude) for a subsequent period of 2-3 mo, and 3) adult males exposed to 5,500 m for 35 days. Hypoxia caused a marked polycythemia in all three groups, body weight loss in males of the three groups and at 5,500 m also in females, whereas liver weight was normal in groups 1 and 2 and slightly decreased in group 3. Cytochrome P-450 content measured in microsomal suspensions of groups 1 and 2 was unchanged. In liver homogenates, cytochrome P-450 content was normal at 4,400 m (group 1) and decreased at 5,500 m (groups 2 and 3). Therefore, endoplasmic reticulum mass, calculated as the ratio of cytochrome P-450 in the homogenates and in the isolated microsomes, was unchanged in group 1 (4,400 m) and decreased in group 2 (5,500 m). The content of antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase, measured in liver homogenates of group 3, were markedly decreased (by 40, 30, and 35%, respectively). Results do not support the hypothesis that an increase in cytochrome P-450 content plays a role in adaptation to hypoxia.

Strain difference in pulmonary vascular responsiveness to hypoxia in rats

The difference in pulmonary vascular response to hypoxia between Hilltop Sprague-Dawley (HT) rats and Wistar (W) rats was studied. Effects of inhibitor of leukotriene (LT) synthesis or prostaglandin (PG) synthesis on hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction (HPV) and chronic pulmonary hypertension were observed, and variations in plasma TXB2 and 6-keto-PGF1 alpha during hypoxia were determined. The results showed that in rats of both strains LTs are the major mediator of HPV, which is also mediated by vasoconstrictive PGs in HT rats, while modulated by vasodilative PGs in W rats. This might be the crucial mechanism responsible for the higher pulmonary vascular responsiveness in HT rats. Differences in the modulating effect of histamine and in the structural feature of pulmonary arteriole might be contributing factors as well.