Pulmonary-artery pressure and exhaled nitric oxide in Bolivian and Caucasian high altitude dwellers

Schwab, Marcos; Jayet, Pierre-Yves; Stuber, Thomas; Salinas, Carlos E; Bloch, Jonathan; Spielvogel, Hilde; Villena, Mercedes; Allemann, Yves; Sartori, Claudio; Scherrer, Urs (2008). Pulmonary-artery pressure and exhaled nitric oxide in Bolivian and Caucasian high altitude dwellers. High altitude medicine & biology, 9(4), pp. 295-9. Larchmont, N.Y.: Mary Ann Liebert 10.1089/ham.2008.1057

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There is evidence that high altitude populations may be better protected from hypoxic pulmonary hypertension than low altitude natives, but the underlying mechanism is incompletely understood. In Tibetans, increased pulmonary respiratory NO synthesis attenuates hypoxic pulmonary hypertension. It has been speculated that this mechanism may represent a generalized high altitude adaptation pattern, but direct evidence for this speculation is lacking. We therefore measured systolic pulmonary-artery pressure (Doppler chocardiography) and exhaled nitric oxide (NO) in 34 healthy, middle-aged Bolivian high altitude natives and in 34 age- and sex-matched, well-acclimatized Caucasian low altitude natives living at high altitude (3600 m). The mean+/-SD systolic right ventricular to right atrial pressure gradient (24.3+/-5.9 vs. 24.7+/-4.9 mmHg) and exhaled NO (19.2+/-7.2 vs. 22.5+/-9.5 ppb) were similar in Bolivians and Caucasians. There was no relationship between pulmonary-artery pressure and respiratory NO in the two groups. These findings provide no evidence that Bolivian high altitude natives are better protected from hypoxic pulmonary hypertension than Caucasian low altitude natives and suggest that attenuation of pulmonary hypertension by increased respiratory NO synthesis may not represent a universal adaptation pattern in highaltitude populations.

Item Type:	Journal Article (Original Article)
Division/Institute:	04 Faculty of Medicine > Department of Cardiovascular Disorders (DHGE) > Clinic of Cardiology
UniBE Contributor:	Allemann, Yves
ISSN:	1527-0297
ISBN:	19115913
Publisher:	Mary Ann Liebert
Language:	English
Submitter:	Factscience Import
Date Deposited:	04 Oct 2013 15:02
Last Modified:	05 Dec 2022 14:19
Publisher DOI:	10.1089/ham.2008.1057
PubMed ID:	19115913
Web of Science ID:	000262085500006
URI:	https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/26921 (FactScience: 99039)