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Comment
. 2005 Jun;2(6):e130.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.0020130. Epub 2005 Jun 28.

Hooray for hypoxia?

Geoff Bellingan  1
Affiliations
Comment

Hooray for hypoxia?

Geoff Bellingan. PLoS Med. 2005 Jun.

Abstract

The mortality of critically ill patients rises steadily as the partial pressure of arterial oxygen falls below about 11 kPa (80 mm Hg). A new animal study in the May 2005 issue of PLoS Biology showing a potential benefit for hypoxia is thus a challenge to current thinking.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The author declares that he has no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Mortality Rises Steadily as PaO2 Falls
Figure 2
Figure 2. Adenosine Receptors Down-Regulate Inflammation through a Negative Feedback Loop
Sitkovsky and colleagues postulate that inflammation causes tissue damage leading to adenosine release, which acts on adenosine A2ARs to increase intracellular cyclic AMP. The rise in cyclic AMP down-regulates the inflammatory response. Tissue inflammation induces local hypoxia, which regulates the adenosine-driven protective response. The figure shows the steps in the pathway where hyperoxia might act (having an inhibitory effect). (Illustration: Giovanni Maki)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment on

References

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