Normobaric hypoxia elevates free fatty acids and impairs cardiac energetics and diastolic function in normal human volunteers

Abstract

Methods Healthy males from the University of Oxford (n = 12, age 24 ± 2) underwent twenty hours of normobaric hypoxia in purpose-built hypoxia chambers. The partial pressure of oxygen during end tidal expiration (PETO2) was kept between 50 and 60 mmHg, whilst keeping peripheral oxygen saturation (SaO2) above 80%. Cardiac function was measured using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and echocardiography. High-energy phosphate metabolism was measured as the ratio of phosphocreatine to ATP (PCr/ATP) by 31Phosphorus magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) before and after twenty hours of hypoxia. Additionally, four subjects had blood taken for biochemical analysis every four hours.