Gosney J, Heath D, Williams D, Rios-Dalenz J
Department of Pathology, University of Liverpool, UK.
Int J Biometeorol. 1991 Jun;35(1):1-5. doi: 10.1007/BF01040955.
Increased activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis is part of the response to the stress of initial exposure to hypoxia, but there is evidence to suggest that it persists after homeostatic stability has been regained and acclimatization achieved. The adrenal glands of five lifelong residents of La Paz, Bolivia, who had lived at altitudes in the range 3600-3800 m, were significantly larger than those in age-matched controls from sea level (15.3 g vs 10.4 g; P less than 0.001) and appeared hyperplastic. The pituitary glands of the highlanders were not significantly different in size from those of the controls (0.67 g vs 0.51 g), but contained larger populations of corticotrophs expressed in terms of the total cell population of their anterior lobes (25.6% vs 19.4%; P less than 0.001). In conjunction with other studies of this endocrine axis in man and animals exposed to a hypoxic environment, these data suggest that greater amounts of adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) are required to maintain normal adrenocortical function under such circumstances, probably as a result of hypoxic inhibition of adrenocortical sensitivity to stimulation. Physiological hyperplasia of the adrenal cortex may be common in people living at high altitude.
下丘脑 - 垂体 - 肾上腺皮质轴活动增加是对初次暴露于低氧应激反应的一部分，但有证据表明，在恢复稳态稳定并实现适应后，这种情况仍会持续。玻利维亚拉巴斯的五名终身居民，他们生活在海拔3600 - 3800米的地区，其肾上腺明显大于来自海平面的年龄匹配对照组（15.3克对10.4克；P小于0.001），且呈现增生状态。高地居民的垂体大小与对照组无显著差异（0.67克对0.51克），但其前叶促肾上腺皮质激素细胞占总细胞群的比例更大（25.6%对19.4%；P小于0.001）。结合其他针对暴露于低氧环境的人类和动物的该内分泌轴研究，这些数据表明，在这种情况下，可能由于肾上腺皮质对刺激的敏感性受到低氧抑制，需要更多的促肾上腺皮质激素（ACTH）来维持正常的肾上腺皮质功能。肾上腺皮质的生理性增生在生活在高海拔地区的人群中可能很常见。
