Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Hypoxia causes glucose intolerance in humans.

Kerstin M Oltmanns1, Hartmut Gehring, Sebastian Rudolf

  • 1Department of Internal Medicine I, University of Luebeck, Luebeck, Germany. Oltmanns@medinf.mu-luebeck.de

American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine
|March 27, 2004
PubMed
Summary

Hypoxia, or low oxygen levels, acutely causes glucose intolerance in healthy individuals. This effect may be partly mediated by an increased release of epinephrine, a stress hormone.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Swiss obesity clinical practice guidance.

Swiss medical weekly·2026
Same author

Long-Term Outcomes of Laparoscopic Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass vs Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy for Obesity: The SM-BOSS Randomized Clinical Trial.

JAMA surgery·2025
Same author

Cost of overweight, obesity, and related complications in Switzerland 2021.

Frontiers in public health·2024
Same author

[Medical interventions for the therapy of obesity].

Therapeutische Umschau. Revue therapeutique·2024
Same author

[Obesity and kidney disease].

Therapeutische Umschau. Revue therapeutique·2024
Same author

Therapeutische Umschau. Revue therapeutique·2024

Area of Science:

  • Physiology
  • Endocrinology
  • Metabolic Science

Background:

  • Hypoxic respiratory diseases are often linked to glucose intolerance.
  • The direct causal link between hypoxia and glucose intolerance in healthy individuals remains unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate whether acute hypoxia induces glucose intolerance in healthy subjects.
  • To differentiate the effects of hypoxia from stress responses on glucose metabolism.

Main Methods:

  • A double-blind, within-subject crossover study involving 14 healthy men.
  • Euglycemic clamps were used to assess glucose infusion rates under hypoxic (75% oxygen saturation) and normoxic (96% oxygen saturation) conditions.
  • Neurohormonal stress markers (catecholamines, cortisol), cardiovascular parameters, and anxiety symptoms were measured. Hypoglycemic clamps served as a control.

Related Experiment Videos

Main Results:

  • A significant decrease in dextrose infusion rate was observed post-hypoxia, indicating glucose intolerance (p < 0.01).
  • Hypoxia elevated plasma epinephrine, heart rate, and anxiety symptoms (p < 0.01, p < 0.01, p < 0.05, respectively).
  • Glucose intolerance during hypoxia was comparable to that during hypoglycemia, despite differing stress responses.

Conclusions:

  • Acute hypoxia directly causes glucose intolerance in healthy individuals.
  • Elevated epinephrine release is a potential mediator of hypoxia-induced glucose intolerance.
  • These findings highlight the metabolic impact of low oxygen conditions.