Adaptations to Altitude: A Current Assessment

Beall, Cynthia M.

doi:10.1146/annurev.anthro.30.1.423

Cited by 85 publications

(70 citation statements)

References 164 publications

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“…29 One suggestion is that African altitude dwellers should be better adapted for high altitude living than South Americans because humans arrived in the Americas at a later date, and their migration to high altitude was delayed by lack of population pressures. 9,10 Certainly, Africans seem to be well adapted to high altitude living, as seen from the absence of CMS.…”

Section: Mechanisms Underlying Different Patterns Of Adaptation To Almentioning

confidence: 99%

Cerebrovascular Responses to Hypoxia and Hypocapnia in Ethiopian High Altitude Dwellers

Claydon

Gulli

Slessarev

et al. 2008

Stroke

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Background and Purpose-Cerebrovascular responses to hypoxia and hypocapnia in Peruvian altitude dwellers are impaired. This could contribute to the high incidence of altitude-related illness in Andeans. Ethiopian high altitude dwellers may show a different pattern of adaptation to high altitude. We aimed to examine cerebral reactivity to hypoxia and hypocapnia in healthy Ethiopian high altitude dwellers. Responses were compared with our previous data from Peruvians. Methods-We studied 9 Ethiopian men at their permanent residence of 3622 m, and one day after descent to 794 m. We continuously recorded cerebral blood flow velocity (CBFV; transcranial Doppler). End-tidal oxygen (P ET o 2 ) was decreased from 100 mm Hg to 50 mm Hg with end-tidal carbon dioxide (P ET co 2 ) clamped at the subject's resting level. P ET co 2 was then manipulated by voluntary hyper-and hypoventilation, with P ET o 2 clamped at 100 mm Hg (normoxia) and 50 mm Hg (hypoxia). Results-During spontaneous breathing, P ET co 2 increased after descent, from 38.2Ϯ1.0 mm Hg to 49.8Ϯ0.6 mm Hg (PϽ0.001). There was no significant response of CBFV to hypoxia at either high (Ϫ0.19Ϯ3.1%) or low (1.1Ϯ2.9%) altitudes. Cerebrovascular reactivity to normoxic hypocapnia at high and low altitudes was 3.92Ϯ0.5%.mm Hg Ϫ1 and 3.09Ϯ0.4%.mm Hg Ϫ1 ; reactivity to hypoxic hypocapnia was 4.83Ϯ0.7%.mm Hg Ϫ1 and 2.82Ϯ0.5%.mm Hg

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Section: Mechanisms Underlying Different Patterns Of Adaptation To Almentioning

confidence: 99%

Cerebrovascular Responses to Hypoxia and Hypocapnia in Ethiopian High Altitude Dwellers

Claydon

Gulli

Slessarev

et al. 2008

Stroke

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“…Fetal growth restriction in Andeans and Tibetans is limited in comparison to nonnative highlanders born at HA (Giussani et al 2001;Moore et al 2011). At the cellular level, the vasodilator nitric oxide (NO) in exhaled breath is 28% elevated in Andeans compared to sea-level values (Beall 2001). Tibetans show even higher values of exhaled NO (Beall 2001;Erzurum et al 2007), higher alveolar ventilation , no hypoxia induced pulmonary vascular resistance response (Groves et al 1993) and only minimally increased hemoglobin concentrations (Beall 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic and Phenotypic Differentiation of an Andean Intermediate Altitude Population

et al. 2016

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Highland populations living permanently under hypobaric hypoxia have been subject of extensive research because of the relevance of their physiological adaptations for the understanding of human health and disease. In this context, what is considered high altitude is a matter of interpretation and while the adaptive processes at high altitude (above 3000 m) are well documented, the effects of moderate altitude (below 3000 m) on the phenotype are less well established. In this study, we compare physiological and anthropometric characteristics as well as genetic variations in two Andean populations: the Calchaqu ıes (2300 m) and neighboring Collas (3500 m). We compare their phenotype and genotype to the sea-level Wich ı population. We measured physiological (heart rate, oxygen saturation, respiration rate, and lung function) as well as anthropometric traits (height, sitting height, weight, forearm, and tibia length). We conducted genome-wide genotyping on a subset of the sample (n = 74) and performed various scans for positive selection. At the phenotypic level (n = 179), increased lung capacity stood out in both Andean groups, whereas a growth reduction in distal limbs was only observed at high altitude. At the genome level, Calchaqu ıes revealed strong signals around PRKG1, suggesting that the nitric oxide pathway may be a target of selection. PRKG1 was highlighted by one of four selection tests among the top five genes using the population branch statistic. Selection tests results of Collas were reported previously. Overall, our study shows that some phenotypic and genetic differentiation occurs at intermediate altitude in response to moderate lifelong selection pressures.

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“…This is not intended to be a review of the physiological mechanisms of high-altitude adaptation, as this topic has been reviewed extensively elsewhere (see, for example, Moore and Regensteiner, 1983;Bouverot, 1985;Monge and Leon-Velarde, 1991;Hochachka, 1998;Moore et al, 1998;Beall, 2003;Scott and Milsom, 2006;Beall, 2007;Storz et al, 2010b), but we do draw on this body of work to make inferences about the adaptive significance of physiological variation in nature, and to identify candidate genes and biochemical pathways that may underlie physiological adaptations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genomic insights into adaptation to high-altitude environments

2011

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Elucidating the molecular genetic basis of adaptive traits is a central goal of evolutionary genetics. The cold, hypoxic conditions of high-altitude habitats impose severe metabolic demands on endothermic vertebrates, and understanding how high-altitude endotherms cope with the combined effects of hypoxia and cold can provide important insights into the process of adaptive evolution. The physiological responses to high-altitude stress have been the subject of over a century of research, and recent advances in genomic technologies have opened up exciting opportunities to explore the molecular genetic basis of adaptive physiological traits. Here, we review recent literature on the use of genomic approaches to study adaptation to high-altitude hypoxia in terrestrial vertebrates, and explore opportunities provided by newly developed technologies to address unanswered questions in high-altitude adaptation at a genomic scale.

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Adaptations to Altitude: A Current Assessment

Cited by 85 publications

References 164 publications

Cerebrovascular Responses to Hypoxia and Hypocapnia in Ethiopian High Altitude Dwellers

Cerebrovascular Responses to Hypoxia and Hypocapnia in Ethiopian High Altitude Dwellers

Genetic and Phenotypic Differentiation of an Andean Intermediate Altitude Population

Genomic insights into adaptation to high-altitude environments

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