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. 2010 May 19;5(5):e10681.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0010681.

The effect of high-altitude on human skeletal muscle energetics: P-MRS results from the Caudwell Xtreme Everest expedition

Lindsay M Edwards  1 , Andrew J Murray, Damian J Tyler, Graham J Kemp, Cameron J Holloway, Peter A Robbins, Stefan Neubauer, Denny Levett, Hugh E Montgomery, Mike P Grocott, Kieran Clarke; Caudwell Xtreme Everest Research Group
Collaborators, Affiliations

The effect of high-altitude on human skeletal muscle energetics: P-MRS results from the Caudwell Xtreme Everest expedition

Lindsay M Edwards et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Many disease states are associated with regional or systemic hypoxia. The study of healthy individuals exposed to high-altitude hypoxia offers a way to explore hypoxic adaptation without the confounding effects of disease and therapeutic interventions. Using (31)P magnetic resonance spectroscopy and imaging, we investigated skeletal muscle energetics and morphology after exposure to hypobaric hypoxia in seven altitude-naïve subjects (trekkers) and seven experienced climbers. The trekkers ascended to 5300 m while the climbers ascended above 7950 m. Before the study, climbers had better mitochondrial function (evidenced by shorter phosphocreatine recovery halftime) than trekkers: 16+/-1 vs. 22+/-2 s (mean +/- SE, p<0.01). Climbers had higher resting [Pi] than trekkers before the expedition and resting [Pi] was raised across both groups on their return (PRE: 2.6+/-0.2 vs. POST: 3.0+/-0.2 mM, p<0.05). There was significant muscle atrophy post-CXE (PRE: 4.7+/-0.2 vs. POST: 4.5+/-0.2 cm(2), p<0.05), yet exercising metabolites were unchanged. These results suggest that, in response to high altitude hypoxia, skeletal muscle function is maintained in humans, despite significant atrophy.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: This project was partly funded by grants from BOC Medical (now Linde Gas Therapeutics), Lilly Critical Care, The London Clinic, Smiths Medical, Deltex Medical and The Rolex Foundation. All monies were given as unrestricted grants: the funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. This does not alter the authors' adherence to any of the PLoS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Muscle phosphocreatine kinetics in recovery from moderate exercise: differences between experienced climbers and altitude-naïve subjects.
Data shown are means ± S.E.M.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Individual changes in muscle cross-sectional area after a trip to high-altitude.
Dashed lines are climbers, solid lines are altitude-naïve subjects. Change in mean values is significant at p<0.05, n = 12.
Figure 3
Figure 3. The effect of altitude exposure on resting high-energy phosphates in skeletal muscle.
* different from pre-CXE at p<0.05; ** different from pre-CXE at p<0.01. CXE  =  Caudwell Xtreme Everest.
Figure 4
Figure 4. The effect of altitude exposure on phosphocreatine ‘overshoot’ in skeletal muscle.
Values are means over the last minute of each period. CXE  =  Caudwell Xtreme Everest expedition, EXx  =  exercise bout x, RECx  =  recovery period after exercise bout x. ** different from pre-CXE at p<0.01; §End-REC1 PCr is different from resting PCr pre-CXE at p<0.05; ¶End-REC2 PCr is different from resting PCr post-CXE at p<0.05.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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