Kp. Mayfield et al., POTENTIAL ADAPTATIONS TO ACUTE-HYPOXIA - HCT, STRESS PROTEINS, AND SET-POINT FOR TEMPERATURE REGULATION, The American journal of physiology, 266(5), 1994, pp. 180001615-180001622
Severe, intermittent hypoxia (hypoxic conditioning, HC) increases surv
ival time during subsequent lethal hypoxia in mice. This protective ef
fect was blocked by naloxone, suggesting an opioid-dependent mechanism
. We proposed and evaluated three potential mechanisms of this acute a
daptation: I)increased hematocrit (Her), 2) protein synthesis, and 3)
decreased set point for temperature regulation (set point). Increased
hematocrit is a well-studied adaptation to chronic hypoxia and. could
be acutely initiated by sympathetically mediated splenic contraction.
Survival during stress can be prolonged by synthesis of stress protein
s. We tested this hypothesis using two protein synthesis inhibitors, a
nisomycin and cycloheximide. Our third hypothesis is that set point is
decreased after HC. e regulated decrease in body temperature would lo
wer oxygen demand during hypoxia. Our studies indicate that hematocrit
and protein synthesis are not dominant mechanisms of acute adaptation
to hypoxia. However, we have observed a naloxone blockable decrease i
n set point after HC, supporting a mechanism in which acute adaptation
involves an endogenous opioid-dependent decrease in set point. These
studies also demonstrate that set point could be a more dominant contr
ibutor than body temperature to hypoxic tolerance.