ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2017
Metabolic basis to Sherpa altitude adaptation.
Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 138 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
138 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 238 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Understanding physiological adaptations of pregnancy to the chronic hypoxia of high altitude to inform obstetrical and neonatal care.Physiological reviews · 2026Review
- Exercise and Fat: A Primer.Sports medicine - open · 2026Review
- Gut microbial remodeling as an ecological strategy for host metabolic management under environmental stress on the Xizang Plateau.BMC microbiology · 2026Article
- A circRNA-miRNA-mRNA network potentially regulates skeletal muscle adaptation to hypoxia in Tibetan sheep.BMC genomics · 2026Article
- Red blood cells serve as a primary glucose sink to improve glucose tolerance at altitude.Cell metabolism · 2026Article
- Human adaptation to high-altitude: A contemporary comparison of the oxygen cascade in Andean, Tibetan and Ethiopian highlanders.Experimental physiology · 2026Review
- Quantitative MRI Values for Atrial and Ventricular Parameters in Altitude-Dwelling Youth.Journal of magnetic resonance imaging : JMRI · 2026Article
- Review: Genomic insights into the adaptive traits and stress resistance in modern horses.Stress biology · 2026Review
- Hyperuricemia was associated with metabolic response against brain injury instead of metabolism syndrome in Tibet: a cross-sectional analysis.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2026Article
- Effects and adaptation of high-altitude hypoxia on lipid metabolism: mechanisms and health implications.Frontiers in physiology · 2026Review
- Exploring the genetic footprints of high altitude adapted humans and livestock.Mammalian genome : official journal of the International Mammalian Genome Society · 2025Review
- Dysregulated Fatty Acid Metabolism in Preeclampsia Among Highland Andeans: Insights Into Adaptive and Maladaptive Placental Metabolic Phenotypes.FASEB journal : official publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology · 2025Article
- Metabolic alterations in erythrocytes associated with long-term hypoxia at high altitude.BMC genomics · 2025Article
- Evidence of Intraspecific Adaptive Variation in the American Pika (Ochotona princeps) on a Continental Scale Using a Target Enrichment and Mitochondrial Genome Skimming Approach.Molecular ecology · 2025Article
- DNA methylation in adaptation to high-altitude environments and pathogenesis of related diseases.Human genomics · 2025Review
- Placental mitochondria in high-altitude pregnancy: metabolic adaptations and a toolkit for respiratory assessment.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2025Review
- Ecometabolomics reveal physiological adaptations of Asiatic toads (Bufo gargarizans Cantor, 1842) to different environments along an altitudinal gradient.Frontiers in zoology · 2025Article
- Incremental ascent to 4300 m does not alter standing balance in lowlanders or Tibetan highlanders.European journal of applied physiology · 2025Article
- Learning from living: chance, curiosity and colleagues.Experimental physiology · 2025Article
78 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
24 authors at 7 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
The Himalayan Sherpas, a human population of Tibetan descent, are highly adapted to life in the hypobaric hypoxia of high altitude. Mechanisms involving enhanced tissue oxygen delivery in comparison to Lowlander populations have been postulated to play a role in such adaptation. Whether differences in tissue oxygen utilization (i.e., metabolic adaptation) underpin this adaptation is not known, however. We sought to address this issue, applying parallel molecular, biochemical, physiological, and genetic approaches to the study of Sherpas and native Lowlanders, studied before and during exposure to hypobaric hypoxia on a gradual ascent to Mount Everest Base Camp (5,300 m). Compared with Lowlanders, Sherpas demonstrated a lower capacity for fatty acid oxidation in skeletal muscle biopsies, along with enhanced efficiency of oxygen utilization, improved muscle energetics, and protection against oxidative stress. This adaptation appeared to be related, in part, to a putatively advantageous allele for the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor A (
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.