HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE AT MATURITY FOLLOWING CHRONIC HYPOXIA: DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS

The effect of neonatal hypoxemia on systemic arterial blood pressure at maturity was assessed in male. Numerous animal studies and large-scale human observational studies support the view that the early adaptation to environmental stressors program lasting physiological changes.(3) In particular there is an extensive and growing body of evidence that elevated systemic arterial blood pressure in adulthood can be strongly influenced by a low birth weight associated with prenatal nutrient deprivation.(4-6) Elevated arterial pressure is increasingly being recognized as one of the predominant factors in the growing prevalence of cardiovascular disease. Neonatal hypoxia did not affect diastolic pressure or heart rate. Neonatally hypoxic males displayed significantly increased daytime blood pressure variability. Neonatal hypoxia in the rat is associated with increased systolic arterial pressure likely due to decreased arterial compliance