Long-Term Intermittent Exposure to High Altitude Elevates Asymmetric Dimethylarginine in First Exposed Young Adults

Abstract

Hypoxia-induced dysregulation of pulmonary and cerebral circulation may be related to an impaired nitric oxide (NO) pathway. We investigated the effect of chronic intermittent hypobaric hypoxia (CIH) on metabolites of the NO pathway. We measured asymmetric and symmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA and SDMA) and monomethyl-L-arginine (L-NMMA) and assessed their associations with acclimatization in male draftees (n = 72) undergoing CIH shifts at altitude (3550 m) during 3 months. Sixteen Andean natives living at altitude (3675 m) (chronic hypobaric hypoxia [CH]) were included for comparison. In CIH, ADMA and L-NMMA plasma concentrations increased from 1.14 +/- 0.04 to 1.95 +/- 0.09 mumol/L (mean +/- SE) and from 0.22 +/- 0.07 to 0.39 +/- 0.03 mumol/L, respectively, (p < 0.001 for both) after 3 months, whereas SDMA did not change. The concentrations of ADMA and L-NMMA were higher in CH (3.48 +/- 0.07, 0.53 +/- 0.08 mumol/L; p < 0.001) as compared with CIH. In both CIH and CH, ADMA correlated with hematocrit (r(2) = 0.07, p < 0.05; r(2) = 0.26; p < 0.01). In CIH, an association of ADMA levels with poor acclimatization status was observed. We conclude that the endogenous NO synthase inhibitors, ADMA and L-NMMA, are elevated in hypoxia. This may contribute to impaired NO production at altitude and may also be predictive of altitude-associated health impairment.