Kiyamu, Melisa, Fabiola León-Velarde, María Rivera-Chira, Gianpietro Elías, and Tom D. Brutsaert. Developmental effects determine submaximal arterial oxygen saturation in Peruvian Quechua. High Alt Med Biol 16:138-146, 2015.-Andean high altitude natives show higher arterial oxygen saturation (Sao 2 ) during exercise in hypoxia, compared to acclimatized sojourners. In order to evaluate the effects of life-long exposure to high altitude on Sao 2 , we studied two groups of well-matched, self-identified Peruvian Quechua natives who differed in their developmental exposure to hypoxia before and after a 2-month training period. Male and female volunteers (18-35 years) were recruited in Lima, Peru (150 m). The two groups were: a) Individuals who were born and raised at sea-level (BSL, n = 34) and b) Individuals who were born and raised at high altitude (BHA, n = 32), but who migrated to sea-level as adults ( > 16 years old). Exercise testing was conducted using a submaximal exercise protocol in normobaric hypoxia in Lima (BP = 750 mmHg, Fio 2 = 0.12), in order to measure Sao 2 (%), ventilation (VE L/min) and oxygen consumption (Vo 2 , L/min). Repeated-measures AN-OVA, controlling for VE/VO 2 (L/min) and sex during the submaximal protocol showed that BHA maintained higher Sao 2 (%) compared to BSL at all workloads before ( p = 0.005) and after training ( p = 0.017). As expected, both groups showed a decrease in Sao 2 (%) (p < 0.001), as workload increased. Resting Sao 2 levels were not found to be different between groups. The results suggest that developmental exposure to altitude contributes to the maintenance of higher Sao 2 levels during submaximal exercise at hypoxia.