Relationships between plasma EPO concentration and left ventricular function and AMS after high altitude exposure / 军事医学

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the effect of plasma erythropoietin ( EPO) concentration on left ventricular systolic function and its relationship with acute mountain sickness ( AMS ) .Methods A total of 289 healthy young men were recruited in this study and divided into five groups:plain control group (Ⅰ) with 55 subjects;acute high altitude exposure group(Ⅱ) with 74 subjects(3700 m exposure for 24 h); the group of acute exposure after acclimatization (Ⅲ) with 68 subjects(4400 m exposure for 24 h after 1 week acclimatization at 3700 m); high altitude migrate group (Ⅳ) with 19 subjects ( migration to 3700 m for more than 1 year ); and the group of exposure after migration (Ⅴ) with 73 subjects (4400 m exposure for 50 d after more than one year migration to 3700 m).Lake Louise Self-assessment Scoring System ( LLSS) was used to assess AMS .Plasma concentrations of EPO and echocardiography were also determined .Results EPO was significantly increased after acute high altitude exposure .There was no significant difference in EPO between groupⅡand Ⅲ(P>0.05), but significantly higher than in group Ⅰ (P0.05).In group Ⅱ, positive correlation was found between EPO concentration and stroke volume (SV) as well as left ventricular diastolic diameter (LVDD) (R=0.278 and 0.236,respectively,P<0.05), while negative correlation was expressed between EPO concentration and the AMS score (R=-0.249,P<0.05).In other groups,there was no relationship between EPO concentration and the index of left ventricular function .Conclusion EPO may work on AMS through left ventricular systolic function enhancement after acute high altitude exposure .