The contribution of arterial blood gases in cerebral blood flow regulation and fuel utilization in man at high altitude

Christopher K. Willie*, David B. MacLeod, Kurt J. Smith, Glen E. Foster, Keita Ikeda, Ryan L. Hoiland, Philip N. Ainslie

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    18 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    The effects of partial acclimatization to high altitude (HA; 5,050 m) on cerebral metabolism and cerebrovascular function have not been characterized. We hypothesized (1) increased cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) at HA; and (2) that CO 2 would affect cerebral metabolism more than hypoxia. PaO 2 and PaCO 2 were manipulated at sea level (SL) to simulate HA exposure, and at HA, SL blood gases were simulated; CVR was assessed at both altitudes. Arterial-jugular venous differences were measured to calculate cerebral metabolic rates and cerebral blood flow (CBF). We observed that (1) partial acclimatization yields a steeper CO 2 -H + relation in both arterial and jugular venous blood; yet (2) CVR did not change, despite (3) mean arterial pressure (MAP)-CO 2 reactivity being doubled at HA, thus indicating effective cerebral autoregulation. (4) At SL hypoxia increased CBF, and restoration of oxygen at HA reduced CBF, but neither had any effect on cerebral metabolism. Acclimatization resets the cerebrovasculature to chronic hypocapnia.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)873-881
    Number of pages9
    JournalJournal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism
    Volume35
    Issue number5
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2015

    Keywords

    • cerebral blood flow measurement
    • energy metabolism
    • environment
    • high altitude

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