Akutne in kronične prilagoditve na hipoksijo v mirovanju in med vadbo pri nedonošenih odraslih

Pre-term birth is known to influence the physiological responses to exercise and altitude exposure. The aim of this doctoral thesis was to further our understanding through investigations of acute and chronic responses to hypoxic exposure at rest and during exercise. The thesis is composed of three experimental studies. In the first study, prematurely-born healthy adults responded similarly to acute blood gas challenges at rest relative to a term-born control group. The second study indicated that absolute nocturnal pulse oxygen saturation was unaffected by pre-term birth during one night at 4200 m simulated altitude. However, nocturnal desaturations were more frequent in the prematurely-born participants. Acute mountain sickness incidence upon waking was similar between groups, but could only be predicted by nocturnal pulse oxygen saturation metrics in those born pre-term. In the third study, exercise-related acclimatisation patterns across three days at 3375 m terrestrial altitude were largely unaffected by pre-term birth. Overall, while specific mechanistic differences associated with pre-term birth are detectable at various levels of physiology, they do not appear to impair altitude tolerance at rest or during exercise. Therefore, prematurely-born healthy adults can safely participate in altitude sojourns, including those requiring physical activity.