Effects of periodic breathing on sleep at high altitude : a randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover study using inspiratory CO2

© 2024 The Authors. The Journal of Physiology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of The Physiological Society..

Hypoxia at high altitude facilitates changes in ventilatory control that can lead to nocturnal periodic breathing (nPB). Here, we introduce a placebo-controlled approach to prevent nPB by increasing inspiratory CO2 and used it to assess whether nPB contributes to the adverse effects of hypoxia on sleep architecture. In a randomized, single-blinded, crossover design, 12 men underwent two sojourns (three days/nights each, separated by 4 weeks) in hypobaric hypoxia corresponding to 4000 m altitude, with polysomnography during the first and third night of each sojourn. During all nights, subjects' heads were encompassed by a canopy retaining exhaled CO2 , and CO2 concentration in the canopy (i.e. inspiratory CO2 concentration) was controlled by adjustment of fresh air inflow. Throughout the placebo sojourn inspiratory CO2 was ≤0.2%, whereas throughout the other sojourn it was increased to 1.76% (IQR, 1.07%-2.44%). During the placebo sojourn, total sleep time (TST) with nPB was 54.3% (37.4%-80.8%) and 45.0% (24.5%-56.5%) during the first and the third night, respectively (P = 0.042). Increased inspiratory CO2 reduced TST with nPB by an absolute 38.1% (28.1%-48.1%), the apnoea-hypopnoea index by 58.1/h (40.1-76.1/h), and oxygen desaturation index ≥3% by 56.0/h (38.9.1-73.2/h) (all P < 0.001), whereas it increased the mean arterial oxygen saturation in TST by 2.0% (0.4%-3.5%, P = 0.035). Increased inspiratory CO2 slightly increased the percentage of N3 sleep during the third night (P = 0.045), without other effects on sleep architecture. Increasing inspiratory CO2 effectively prevented hypoxia-induced nPB without affecting sleep macro-architecture, indicating that nPB does not explain the sleep deterioration commonly observed at high altitudes. KEY POINTS: Periodic breathing is common during sleep at high altitude, and it is unclear how this affects sleep architecture. We developed a placebo-controlled approach to prevent nocturnal periodic breathing (nPB) with inspiratory CO2 administration and used it to assess the effects of nPB on sleep in hypobaric hypoxia. Nocturnal periodic breathing was effectively mitigated by an increased inspiratory CO2 fraction in a blinded manner. Prevention of nPB did not lead to relevant changes in sleep architecture in hypobaric hypoxia. We conclude that nPB does not explain the deterioration in sleep architecture commonly observed at high altitude.

Medienart:

E-Artikel

Erscheinungsjahr:

2024

Erschienen:

2024

Enthalten in:

Zur Gesamtaufnahme - year:2024

Enthalten in:

The Journal of physiology - (2024) vom: 26. Feb.

Sprache:

Englisch

Beteiligte Personen:

Ibrahim, Abubaker [VerfasserIn]
Stefani, Ambra [VerfasserIn]
Cesari, Matteo [VerfasserIn]
Roche, Johanna [VerfasserIn]
Gatterer, Hannes [VerfasserIn]
Holzknecht, Evi [VerfasserIn]
Turner, Rachel [VerfasserIn]
Vinetti, Giovanni [VerfasserIn]
Furian, Michael [VerfasserIn]
Heidbreder, Anna [VerfasserIn]
Högl, Birgit [VerfasserIn]
Siebenmann, Christoph [VerfasserIn]

Links:

Volltext

Themen:

Acclimatization
Carbon dioxide
Cheyne-Stokes
Hypobaric
Hypoxia
Journal Article
Placebo
Polysomnography

Anmerkungen:

Date Revised 20.03.2024

published: Print-Electronic

Citation Status Publisher

doi:

10.1113/JP285397

funding:

Förderinstitution / Projekttitel:

PPN (Katalog-ID):

NLM368980359