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Plasma catecholamines and blood volume in native Andeans during hypoxia and normoxia

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Abstract

Plasma catechols and blood volume were measured in 20 male, native high-altitude residents of Cerro de Pasco, Peru (4338 m), while hypoxic and subsequently while normoxic at sea level. Ten subjects were healthy controls,with hematocrits lower than 61%, and ten had chronic mountain sickness (CMS), a syndrome of maladaptation to altitude, characterized by polycythemia (hematocrit > 61%), profound hypoxemia, and neurologic symptoms. The main aim of the study was to evaluate the chronic effects of hypoxia on plasma catechols and on blood volume, by studying these parameters during hypoxia at high altitude (HA) and shortly after exposure to normoxia at sea level (SL). Subjects were first studied at HA in their habitual hypoxic environment, and measurements were repeated within 4 hours of arrival at SL (Lima, Peru, 150 m). All subjects had higher plasma norepinephrine (NE), dopamine (DA), and dihydroxyphenylglycol (DHPG) levels in HA (NE in controls and CMS: 414±47 and 514±35 pg/mL; DA: 9±1 and 13±1 pg/mL, DHPG: 817±48 and 972±77 pg/mL) than at SL (NE: 164±9 and 243±28 pg/mL; DA: 4±0.5 and 5±1 pg/mL DHPG: 502±23 and 649±39 pg/mL). Group differences were statistically significant only for NE in the CMS group. Plasma volume was higher in HA in both groups (p<0.05); red cell volume was higher in HA only in the CMS group. The results indicate sympathetic nervous stimulation by chronic ambient hypoxia at altitude in Andean natives, independent of maladaptation to their native environment.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Clinical Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, 1161 21st Av. South, Suite AA3228, Nashville (TN) 37232, USA

    Alfredo Gamboa MD

  2. Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland (OH), USA

    Jorge L. Gamboa MD

  3. Clinical Neurocardiology Section, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke National Institutes of Health, Bethesda (MD), USA

    Courtney Holmes CMT, Yehonatan Sharabi MD & David S. Goldstein MD, PhD

  4. Depto. De Ciencias Biologicas y Fisiologicas/IIA, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru

    Fabiola Leon-Velarde DrSc

  5. Daxor Corporation, New York (NY), USA

    Gary J. Fischman DPM, PhD

  6. New Mexico Health Enhancement and Marathon Clinics Research Foundation, Albuquerque (NM), USA

    Otto Appenzeller MD, PhD

Authors
  1. Alfredo Gamboa MD
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  2. Jorge L. Gamboa MD
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  3. Courtney Holmes CMT
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  4. Yehonatan Sharabi MD
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  5. Fabiola Leon-Velarde DrSc
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  6. Gary J. Fischman DPM, PhD
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  7. Otto Appenzeller MD, PhD
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  8. David S. Goldstein MD, PhD
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Correspondence to Alfredo Gamboa MD.

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Gamboa, A., Gamboa, J.L., Holmes, C. et al. Plasma catecholamines and blood volume in native Andeans during hypoxia and normoxia. Clin Auton Res 16, 40–45 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10286-006-0305-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10286-006-0305-z

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