Gene expression, autonomic function and chronic hypoxia:lessons from the Andes

Autonomic function is altered by altitude in sojourners and natives. We hypothesized that these physiologic responses are modulated by changes in gene expression. We compared gene product levels in 20 natives of Cerro de Pasco (CP), (4338 m), 10 of which had chronic mountain sickness (CMS) establish...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Clinical autonomic research 2006-06, Vol.16 (3), p.217-222
Main Authors: Appenzeller, Otto, Minko, Tamara, Qualls, Clifford, Pozharov, Vitaly, Gamboa, Jorge, Gamboa, Alfredo, Wang, Yang
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptation, Physiological
Adult
Altitude
Altitude Sickness - genetics
Altitude Sickness - metabolism
Altitude Sickness - physiopathology
Autonomic Nervous System - physiopathology
Chronic Disease
Gene Expression Regulation
Humans
Hypoxia - genetics
Hypoxia - physiopathology
Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1, alpha Subunit - genetics
Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1, alpha Subunit - metabolism
Leukocytes - metabolism
Male
Middle Aged
Peru
Phosphoglycerate Kinase - classification
Phosphoglycerate Kinase - genetics
Phosphoglycerate Kinase - metabolism
United States
Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A - genetics
Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A - metabolism
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Autonomic function is altered by altitude in sojourners and natives. We hypothesized that these physiologic responses are modulated by changes in gene expression. We compared gene product levels in 20 natives of Cerro de Pasco (CP), (4338 m), 10 of which had chronic mountain sickness (CMS) established by a CMS-scoring system, with gene products in the same men after 1 h at sea level. We further compared the results with those obtained from 10 US men residing at 1500 m. We measured gene products in white cells by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). We focused on genes important in vascular autonomic physiology, and/or activated by hypoxia; hypoxia inducible factor 1-alpha (HIF 1-alpha), 2 splicing variants of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF); VEGF-121, VEGF-165, and phosphoglycerate kinase 1 (PGK 1). Normal CP natives showed high expression of all genes in CP, compared to US controls. Within 1 h of arrival at sea level, they had comparable levels to US residents. In CMS, the gene products were higher in CP. Although gene products decreased in Lima in this group, they never reached US values. VEGF 121 and 165 were correlated (P
ISSN:0959-9851
1619-1560
DOI:10.1007/s10286-006-0338-3