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Body position and cardiac dynamic and chronotropic responses to steady-state isocapnic hypoxaemia in humans

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2001

S. Deborah Lucy ,
Richard L. Hughson ,
John M. Kowalchuk ,
Donald H. Paterson  and
David A. Cunningham
S. Deborah Lucy
Affiliation:
Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine and ÓSchool of Kinesiology, Faculty of Health Sciences, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada N6A 5C1 and Department of Kinesiology, Faculty of Applied Health Sciences, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3G1
Richard L. Hughson
Affiliation:
Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine and ÓSchool of Kinesiology, Faculty of Health Sciences, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada N6A 5C1 and Department of Kinesiology, Faculty of Applied Health Sciences, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3G1
John M. Kowalchuk
Affiliation:
Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine and ÓSchool of Kinesiology, Faculty of Health Sciences, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada N6A 5C1 and Department of Kinesiology, Faculty of Applied Health Sciences, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3G1
Donald H. Paterson
Affiliation:
Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine and ÓSchool of Kinesiology, Faculty of Health Sciences, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada N6A 5C1 and Department of Kinesiology, Faculty of Applied Health Sciences, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3G1
David A. Cunningham
Affiliation:
Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine and ÓSchool of Kinesiology, Faculty of Health Sciences, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada N6A 5C1 and Department of Kinesiology, Faculty of Applied Health Sciences, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3G1
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Abstract

Neural mediation of the human cardiac response to isocapnic (IC) steady-state hypoxaemia was investigated using coarse-graining spectral analysis of heart rate variability (HRV). Six young adults were exposed in random order to a hypoxia or control protocol, in supine and sitting postures, while end-tidal PCO2 (PET,CO2) was clamped at resting eucapnic levels. An initial 11 min period of euoxia (PET,O2 100 mmHg; 13.3 kPa) was followed by a 22 min exposure to hypoxia (PET,O2 55 mmHg; 7.3 kPa), or continued euoxia (control). Harmonic and fractal powers of HRV were determined for the terminal 400 heart beats in each time period. Ventilation was stimulated (P < 0.05) and cardiac dynamics altered only by exposure to hypoxia. The cardiac interpulse interval was shortened (P < 0.001) similarly during hypoxia in both body positions. Vagally mediated high-frequency harmonic power (Ph) of HRV was decreased by hypoxia only in the supine position, while the fractal dimension, also linked to cardiac vagal control, was decreased in the sitting position (P < 0.05). However, low-frequency harmonic power (Pl) and the HRV indicator of sympathetic activity (Pl/Ph) were not altered by hypoxia in either position. These results suggest that, in humans, tachycardia induced by moderate IC hypoxaemia (arterial O2 saturation Sa,O2 85 %) was mediated by vagal withdrawal, irrespective of body position and resting autonomic balance, while associated changes in HRV were positionally dependent.

Type
Research Article
Information
Experimental Physiology , Volume 85 , Issue 2 , March 2000 , pp. 227 - 237
Copyright
© The Physiological Society 2000

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