OxInflammation at High Altitudes: A Proof of Concept from the Himalayas.

Simona Mrakic-Sposta,Denise Biagini,Fabio Di Francesco,Vittore Verratti,Tommaso Lomonaco,Alessandra Vezzoli,Danilo Bondi,Tiziana Pietrangelo

doi:10.3390/antiox11020368

Simona Mrakic-Sposta, Denise Biagini + Show 6 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/antiox11020368

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Abstract

High-altitude locations are fascinating for investigating biological and physiological responses in humans. In this work, we studied the high-altitude response in the plasma and urine of six healthy adult trekkers, who participated in a trek in Nepal that covered 300 km in 19 days along a route in the Kanchenjunga Mountain and up to a maximum altitude of 5140 m. Post-trek results showed an unbalance in redox status, with an upregulation of ROS (+19%), NOx (+28%), neopterin (+50%), and pro-inflammatory prostanoids, such as PGE2 (+120%) and 15-deoxy-delta12,14-PGJ2 (+233%). The isoprostane 15-F2t-IsoP was associated with low levels of TAC (−18%), amino-thiols, omega-3 PUFAs, and anti-inflammatory CYP450 EPA-derived mediators, such as DiHETEs. The deterioration of antioxidant systems paves the way to the overload of redox and inflammative markers, as triggered by the combined physical and hypoxic stressors. Our data underline the link between oxidative stress and inflammation, which is related to the concept of OxInflammation into the altitude hypoxia fashion.

Highlights

IntroductionPublisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations
We propose the comprehensive monitoring of the redox status and antioxidant capacity together with the measurement of a wide panel of oxylipins for a full characterization of oxidative damage and immuneinflammatory response
In line with the literature [7,8,10,46], we found that high altitude increases the production of ROS and decreases the antioxidant capacity, modifying the weighing pan, as suggested by the increase in ROS, NOx, oxidative damage biomarkers (i.e., 15-F2t -IsoP), and unbalanced redox status

Summary

Introduction

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. High altitude exposure triggers marked physiological responses and adaptations [1]. For this reason, challenges to human homeostasis by such environmental stressors [2]. Provide an intriguing ecological model to reproduce physiological and pathophysiological conditions that share hypoxemia as the common denominator. Altitude travel has increased massively in the last few decades, and the combination of physical activity and altitude hypoxia, as in high-altitude treks, enables medical and physiological responses to be investigated in the field [3,4]

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