Lung volume, chest size, and hematological variation in low-, medium-, and high-altitude central Asian populations

To evaluate adaptive responses to high-altitude environment, we examined three groups of healthy adult males from Central Asia: 94 high-altitude (HA) Kirghiz subjects (3,200 m above sea level); 114 middle-altitude (MA) Kazakh subjects (2,100 m), and 90 low-altitude (LA) Kirghiz subjects (900 m). Data on chest size (chest perimeter and chest diameter), lung volume (forced expiratory volume (FEV) and forced expiratory volume in 1 sec (FEV1)), and hematological parameters (hemoglobin, erythrocytes, hematocrit, and SaO(2)) are discussed. The results show that 1) chest shape is less flat in the samples living at higher altitude. In the HA sample, chest perimeter is lower but chest excursion is high. 2) In the highlanders, forced vital capacity (FVC) and FEV1 are no higher than in the other samples, even when corrected for stature and body weight. The negative correlation between FVC-FEV1 and age decreases with increasing altitude. 3) The HA and MA samples have higher values of hemoglobin, erythrocytes, and hematocrit. The HA sample has lower SaO(2) and higher arterial oxygen content than the LA sample. No association between hematocrit and age was detected in the four samples. The results indicate that the high-altitude Kirghiz present features of developmental acclimatization to hypobaric hypoxia which are also strongly influenced by other major high-altitude environmental stresses.