IS HYPOXIA-INDUCIBLE FACTOR (HIF-1) ALPHA INVOLVED IN TARAVANA SYNDROME?

Breath holding diving (BH) is a discipline practiced by an increasing number of people. BH-divers are exposed to extreme environmental conditions such as: increased hyperbaric pressure and low temperature that caused change in arterial blood gases (1-2) and induced an human diving response which includes bradycardia, reduced cardiac output, increased arterial blood pressure and peripheral vasoconstriction (3). Some of these adaptations are still not fully understood, so we decided to investigate some biomarkers that should be involved in this disorders starting to analyse Hypoxia-inducible factor 1 alpha (HIF-1α). We enrolled in our study 31 healthy free divers from different part of Sicily…