Ascorbyl palmitate augments hypoxic respiratory response in the cat

Abstract

The redox signaling is germane for the hypoxia-sensing mechanisms at the carotid body. This raises the strong possibility that agents possess reducing and antioxidant attributes, such as ascorbate, could influence the hypoxic respiratory response. However, water solubility of ascorbate makes its effectiveness at membrane-associated target sites dubious. In this study, we sought to determine the effect of ascorbyl-6-palmitate (AP), a lipid-soluble derivative of ascorbate which penetrates biomembranes, on hypoxic respiration in the anesthetized, paralyzed and ventilated cat. AP was given by gavage: 600 mg/kg daily for 6 days before the beginning of the acute experiment. Respiration was then assessed from the phrenic electroneurogram, from which peak phrenic amplitude, a surrogate of tidal component, respiratory frequency, and their product, the minute phrenic output, were quantified. The response to normocapnic hypoxia, 7% O(2) in N(2), in the AP-treated cats was compared with that in controls. We found that AP augmented hypoxic respiration, delayed the appearance of hypoxic depression and decreased it, although the stimulatory/depressant character was preserved. The results suggest that the ascorbate moiety of AP interacts with the hypoxia-sensing mechanisms. Ascorbate may affect hypoxic respiration at multiple stages of chemotransduction pathways, which are subject to continuing uncertainties. The study highlights the augmentative effect of AP, a redox modulator, on hypoxic respiration, which may have a therapeutic potential.

Acute Mountain Sickness, Vitamin C, Free Radicals, and HIF-1α

“…Further evidence suggesting that vitamin C may play a critical role in oxygen sensing and augmenting the responses to hypoxia has been shown in a recent study of ascorbyl palmitate in hypoxic cats. 8 Ascorbyl palmitate is a lipid-soluble derivative of vitamin C; its lipid solubility increases its availability to chemoreceptors in the carotid body. The study showed modification of the ventilatory response to hypoxia and concluded that ascorbyl palmitate may have therapeutic effects in hypoxia.…”