Session Information
Date: Monday, September 23, 2019
Session Title: Clinical Trials, Pharmacology and Treatment
Session Time: 1:45pm-3:15pm
Location: Agora 3 West, Level 3
Objective: To systematically review the scientific evidence for beneficial or harmful effects of intermittent hypoxia that were used in Parkinson’s disease (PD) in clinical and preclinical studies and exploring the underlying bio-mechanisms.
Background: Intermittent hypoxia training (IHT) is a promising new approach to offer symptomatic relief or even disease modification of PD. Anecdotal reports suggested a short-lasting beneficial effect of hypoxia in PD, but hypoxia can potentially be harmful too.
Method: A literature search was performed in PubMed/MEDLINE, covering publications up to February 2019. Supplementary searches were performed in Google Scholar and Web of Science, and additional relevant articles were obtained from the reference lists of identified papers. Excluded studies had one or more of the following exclusion criteria: not written in English, Carbon monoxide intoxication, describing the effect of hypoxia solely on diseases other than PD, or studies related to the effect of oxygen-glucose deprivation that is seen in stroke, cardiac arrest, accidents or artificially induced ones (i.e., arterial occlusion). Included articles focused on the effect of pure hypoxia in patients with PD, in animal model of PD and in vitro cell models of PD.
Results: 405 articles were identified then abstracts of these articles were screened on relevance. For articles that were identified as relevant (90 articles), a full text analysis was performed. Beneficial effects of IHT appear from hypoxic preconditioning, and potentially have disease-modifying effects by tackling the underlying pathogenesis. Conversely, harmful effects of IHT may result from induced oxidative stress and neuroinflammation. Whether IHT evokes beneficial or harmful effects seems to be primarily dependent on the dose and duration of the treatment protocol. Based on exploration of existent evidence, in this review, for the first time we proposed specific IHT protocol that could be used in future clinical trials.
Conclusion: Use of IHT as a new treatment tool in PD is promising. Future RCTs are needed to fully explore its potential effects in PD patients.
To cite this abstract in AMA style:
M. Sharifi-Bonab, J. Sesink, B. Bloem, D. Devos, J. Deguil, C. Moreau. Parkinson’s disease and intermittent hypoxia training: beneficial or harmful? [abstract]. Mov Disord. 2019; 34 (suppl 2). https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/parkinsons-disease-and-intermittent-hypoxia-training-beneficial-or-harmful/. Accessed May 15, 2025.« Back to 2019 International Congress
MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/parkinsons-disease-and-intermittent-hypoxia-training-beneficial-or-harmful/