Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7czq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T08:12:34.685Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

High altitude acclimatization and athletic performance in horses

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2007

Steven J Wickler  and
Holly M Greene
Steven J Wickler*
Affiliation:
Equine Research Center, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, CA 91768, USA and University of California, White Mountain Research Station, Bishop, CA, USA
Holly M Greene
Affiliation:
Equine Research Center, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, CA 91768, USA and University of California, White Mountain Research Station, Bishop, CA, USA
*
*[email protected]
Get access

Abstract

High altitude acclimatization produces a suite of physiological changes that might support an improved athletic performance at low altitude and thus lead to the strategy of athletic training at high altitude. Although there is substantial literature on high altitude physiology in humans, there are few studies on horses. Our interest in the physiological responses to high altitude in equids has been driven by the concerns of how athletic performance is altered at altitude and how conditioning at altitude may improve performance subsequently at low altitude. This review serves to illustrate what is currently know about the physiological changes of horses to altitude, at rest and during exercise, and to highlight how performance is impacted both at high altitude and subsequent return to low altitude.

Keywords

hypoxaemia2,3-diphosphoglyceratepulmonary artery pressureshypoxiaequine
Type
Research Article
Information
Equine and Comparative Exercise Physiology , Volume 1 , Issue 3 , August 2004 , pp. 167 - 170
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2004

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1Lenfant, C, Torrance, J, English, E, Rinch, C, Reynafarje, C, Ramos, J et al. (1968). Effects of altitude on oxygen binding by hemoglobin and on organic phosphate levels. Journal of Clinical Investigation 47: 2652–2656.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
2Ou, LD, Cai, YN and Tenney, SM (1985). Responses of blood volume and red cell mass in two strains of rats acclimatized to high altitude. Respiration Physiology 62: 85–94.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
3Banchero, N (1975). Capillary density of skeletal muscle in dogs exposed to simulated altitude. Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine 148: 435–439.Google Scholar
4Bigard, AX, Brunet, A, Guezennec, CY and Monod, H (1991). Skeletal muscle changes after endurance training at high altitude. Journal of Applied Physiology 71: 2114–2121.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
5Green, HJ, Sutton, JR, Wolfel, EE, Reeves, JT, Butterfield, GE and Brooks, GA (1992). Altitude acclimatization and energy metabolism adaptations in skeletal muscle during exercise. Journal of Applied Physiology 73: 2701–2708.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
6Lenfant, C and Sullivan, K (1971). Adaptation to high altitude. New England Journal of Medicine 284: 1298–1309.Google Scholar
7Winslow, R (1984). Red cell function at extreme altitude. In: West, J and Lahiri, S (eds), High Altitude and Man. Baltimore, MD: Waverly, p. 59.Google Scholar
8Winslow, RM, Samaja, M and West, JB (1984). Red cell function at extreme altitudes on Mount Everest. Journal of Applied Physiology 56: 109–116.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
9de Aluja, AS, Gross, DR, McCoker, PJ and Svendsen, J (1968). Effect of altitude on horses. Veterinary Record 82: 368–373.Google Scholar
10Collins, JD, Farrelly, BT and Byrne, MJ (1969). Changes in the number and quality of erythrocytes in horses transported to high altitudes. Irish Veterinary Journal 23: 42–46.Google Scholar
11Persson, S (1967). On blood volume and working capacity. Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica. Supplementum 19: 1–189.Google Scholar
12Archer, RK and Clabby, J (1965). The effect of excitation and exertion on the circulating blood of horses. Veterinary Record 77: 689–692.Google ScholarPubMed
13Wickler, SJ and Anderson, TP (2000). Hematological changes and athletic performance in horses in response to high altitude (3,800 m). American Journal of Physiology. Regulatory Integrative and Comparative Physiology 279: R1176–R1181.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
14Smith, TR, Beam, WB, Wickler, SJ and McKeever, KH (1998). Altitude not exercise increased plasma erythropoietin in the horse. FASEB Journal 12(5): A724.Google Scholar
15Levine, BD and Stray-Gundersen, J (1997). Living high training low: effect of moderate-altitude acclimatization with low-altitude training on performance. Journal of Applied Physiology 83: 102–112.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
16Samaja, M, Di Prampero, PE and Cerretelli, P (1986). The role of 2,3-DPG in oxygen transport at altitude. Respiration Physiology 64: 191–202.Google Scholar
17Greene, HM and Wickler, SJ (2000). Acute altitude exposure (3800 meters) and metabolic capacity in the middle gluteal muscle of equids. Journal of Equine Veterinary Medicine 20(3): 175–178.Google Scholar
18Saltin, B, Kim, CK, Terrados, N, Larsen, H, Svedenhag, J and Rolf, CJ (1995). Morphology, enzyme activities and buffer capacity in leg muscles of Kenyan and Scandinavian runners. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports 5: 222–230.Google Scholar
19Ludby, C, Saltin, B and van Hall, G (2000). The ‘lactate paradox’, evidence for a transient change in the course of acclimatization to serve hypoxia in lowlanders. Acta Physiologica Scandinavica 170: 265–269.Google Scholar
20Hoppeler, H and Vogt, M (2001). Muscle tissue adaptations to hypoxia. Journal of Experimental Biology 204: 3133–3139.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
21Greene, HM, Cogger, EA, Miltenberger, TL, Koch, AK, Bray, RE and Wickler, SJ (2002). Metabolic and osmoregulatory function at low and high (3800m) altitude. Equine Veterinary Journal Supplement 34: 545–550.Google Scholar
22Grover, RF, Reeves, JT, Will, DH and Blount, SG (1963). Pulmonary vasoconstriction in steers at high altitude. Journal of Applied Physiology 18(3): 567–574.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
23Greene, HM, Wickler, SJ, Anderson, TP, Cogger, EA, Lewis, CC and Wyle, A (1999). High-altitude effects on respiratory gases, acid–base balance and pulmonary artery pressures in equids. Equine Veterinary Journal Supplement 30: 71–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
24Bisgard, GE, Orr, JA and Will, JA (1975). Hypoxic pulmonary hypertension in the pony. American Journal of Veterinary Research 36: 49–52.Google Scholar
25Wilkins, PA, Gleed, RD, Krivitski, NM and Dobson, A (2001). Extravascular lung water in the exercising horse. Journal of Applied Physiology 91: 2442–2450.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
26Hultgren, H and Spickard, W (1960). Medical experiences in Peru. Stanford Medical Bulletin 18: 76–95.Google Scholar
27Calbet, J, Boushel, R, Radegran, G, Sondergaard, H, Wagner, P and Saltin, B (2003). Why is VO2max after altitude acclimatization still reduced despite normalization of arterial O2 content? American Journal of Physiology. Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology 284: R304–R316.Google Scholar
28Wilber, RL (2001). Current trends in altitude training. Sports Medicine 31: 249–265.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
29Roberts, AD, Clark, SA, Townsend, NE, Anderson, ME, Gore, CJ and Hahn, AG (2003). Changes in performance, maximal oxygen uptake and maximal accumulated oxygen deficit after 5, 10, and 15 days of live high: train low altitude exposure. European Journal of Applied Physiology 88: 390–395.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
30Rusko, HK, Tikkannen, HO and Peltonen, JE (2003). Oxygen manipulation as an ergogenic aid. Current Sports Medicine Reports 2: 233–238.Google Scholar
31Saunders, PU, Telford, RD, Pyne, DB, Cunningham, RB, Gore, CJ, Hahn, AG et al. (2004). Improved running economy in elite runners after 20 days of simulated moderate-altitude exposure. Journal of Applied Physiology 96: 931–937.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
32Wickler, SJ and Troy, W (1991). Blood volume, lactate and cortisol in exercising Arabian equitation horses. In: Persson, SGB, Lindholm, A and Jeffcott, LB (eds), Equine Exercise Physiology 3. Davis, CA: ICEEP Publications. pp. 397–401.Google Scholar
33Wagner, PD, Erickson, BK, Seaman, J, Kubo, K, Hiraga, A, Kai, M et al. (1996). Effects of altered FIO2 on maximum VO2 in the horse. Respiration Physiology 105: 123–134.Google Scholar
34Wagner, PD, Gillsepie, JR, Landgren, GL, Fedde, MR, Jones, BW, DeBowes, RM et al. (1989). Mechanism of exerciseinduced hypoxemia in horses. Journal of Applied Physiology 66: 1227–1233.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
35Art, T and Lekeux, P (1993). Training-induced modifications in cardiorespiratory and ventilatory measurements in thoroughbred horses. Equine Veterinary Journal 25: 532–536.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
36Christley, RM, Hodgson, DR, Evans, DL and Rose, RJ (1997). Effects of training on the development of exercise-induced arterial hypoxemia in horses. American Journal of Veterinary Research 58: 654–657.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed