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Influence of Intermittent Hypoxia on Loop Gain in Healthy Subjects
Sponsor: Poitiers University Hospital
Summary
Sleep apnoea-hypopnoea syndrome (SAHOS), which causes numerous comorbidities, particularly cardiovascular ones, is widespread worldwide today and incurs significant healthcare costs. Current research in this field focuses on identifying different phenotypes in affected patients in order to provide more personalised treatment. One of these phenotypes appears to be linked to instability in ventilatory control due to an increase in loop gain (LG) in these subjects. However, the pathophysiology of this ventilatory control instability due to increased LG is not fully understood. It is still difficult to determine whether subjects have an intrinsically high LG or if exposure to intermittent hypoxia during OSA promotes an increase in LG. It has also been demonstrated that OSA causes vascular hyperreactivity by increasing oxidative stress through elevated ROS production. This leads to endothelial dysfunction in response to intermittent hypoxia associated with apnoea. Extracellular vesicles (microvesicles and exosomes) have been shown to play a role in this endothelial response. These extracellular vesicles are essential for intercellular communication in both physiological and pathological situations, such as SAHOS. Therefore, the objective of this research is to determine whether exposure to intermittent hypoxia and changes in microvesicle phenotype could influence LG, which could lead to new therapeutic advances in the context of SAHOS.
Key Details
Gender
All
Age Range
18 Years - 45 Years
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Enrollment
40
Start Date
2026-03
Completion Date
2027-05
Last Updated
2026-02-13
Healthy Volunteers
Yes
Conditions
Interventions
Intermittent hypoxia
The volunteer will remain at rest in the hypoxic chamber, experiencing intermittent hypoxic conditions cyclically every 6 minutes. During one third of the cycle, they will be exposed to hypoxia in order to reduce SpO₂ to between 85% and 90%. Then, during two thirds of the cycle, they will receive oxygenation at a rate of 1 L/min (with possible subject-dependent modulations), with the aim of achieving an SpO₂ of greater than 95%. To make the hypoxia intermittent, the volunteer will also be given a medium-concentration oxygen mask that provides intermittent airflow, controlled by the D-6341 mass flow controller.
Normoxia
The participant will remain at rest in the hypoxic chamber under normoxic conditions. To prevent the volunteer from becoming aware of the conditions to which they are exposed, an air flow rate of 1 L/min will be used to simulate intermittent oxygenation.
Locations (1)
Poitiers University Hospital
Poitiers, France