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The Role of Arterial Chemoreceptors in Ventilatory Acclimatization to Hypoxia

1994; Springer Nature; Linguagem: Inglês

10.1007/978-1-4615-2572-1_10

2214-8019

G. E. Bisgard,

Cardiovascular and Diving-Related Complications

Mechanisms of ventilatory control responsible for increased breathing on ascent to altitude have been the object of great interest to respiratory physiologists for many generations (cf. Kellogg, 1977). On exposure to a hypoxic environment there is a time dependent progressive rise in ventilation which is commonly termed ventilatory acclimatization to hypoxia (VAH). This paper will explore findings associated with VAH, but will not deal with mechanisms of ventilatory control in very long-term residents or natives of high altitude. Previously there was a strong focus on central medullary chemoreceptors as the source for increased ventilatory drive during VAH, but evidence (to be briefly reviewed below) has failed to support this view. Increasing evidence has accumulated suggesting that peripheral chemoreceptors constitute a primary site of ventilatory drive in VAH. The research findings relevant to the role of the peripheral chemoreceptors (carotid body) will be the focus of this chapter. The reader is referred to another recent review of this topic (Weil, 1991).