Does endothelin-1 receptor blockade alter the sympathetic and hemodynamic response to acute intermittent hypoxia in healthy young men?
Endothelin receptor blockade does not mediate the sympathetic and blood pressure responses to acute intermittent hypoxia in healthy young men, contrasting with previous rodent data.
Repeat exposures to low oxygen (intermittent hypoxia, IH) elicit increases in muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) and blood pressure (BP) in men. Endothelin (ET) receptor antagonists can attenuate the sympathetic and BP response to IH in rodents; whether these data translate to humans were unclear. We show acute IH results in an increase in ET-1, MSNA, and BP in healthy young men; however, the effect of IH on MSNA and BP does not occur through activation of ET-receptors in healthy young men.
Limberg et al. (2022) studied this question.