Research

Thesis title: "The influence of intermittent hypoxia-hyperoxia training (IHHT) on performance and immune cells of elite cyclists"

Thesis outline: Many athletes, especially in endurance sports, use altitude training to improve their aerobic capacity. Over the years, various variations (live high – train low, train high – live low, …) have been developed and discussed controversially in the scientific context. Above all, the effects on the blood oxygen transport and aerobic performance remain in the focus of the traditional stay at high-altitude (Lundby & Robach, 2016; Stray-Gundersen, Chapman, & Levine, 2001). As early as in the 1930s, the progress in technical possibilities and the search for alternatives to induce similar effects at lower sea levels were the decisive factors in initiating research efforts to artificially mimic high altitudes. The origins of these new methods were predominantly derived from researchers in the former Soviet Union (Serebrovskaya, 2002). In the framework of this thesis, a special hypoxia approach will be used, the so-called intermittent hypoxic training (IHT), which has been broadly defined as “repeated stays at high-mountain camps for several weeks, regular high-altitude flights by plane, training in altitude chambers, and training by inhalation of low-oxygen gas mixtures” (Serebrovskaya, 2002). 

Besides its application in sports science and sports medicine, intermittent hypoxia has been used in the clinical setting to support the treatment of hypertension, obesity, metabolic syndrome and inflammatory processes (Bestavashvili et al., 2022; Maciejczyk et al., 2022; Serebrovska, Serebrovska, & Egorov, 2016). However, the optimal dose of hypoxia is of utmost importance as negative effects of oxygen deprivation have also been described. Hypoxia in obstructive sleep apnea can be considered as intermittent hypoxia, with oxygen levels below 8% being reported and associated with adverse effects. Increased inflammatory parameters, higher cardiovascular risk and increased blood pressure are frequently described pathologies (Gabryelska, Lukasik, Makowska, & Bialasiewicz, 2018; Khalyfa, Kheirandish-Gozal, & Gozal, 2018; Navarrete-Opazo & Mitchell, 2014).

Supervisor & Co-Mentor: Barbara Wessner, Robert Csapo