Basic & Clinical Medicine ›› 2008, Vol. 28 ›› Issue (4): 331-334.

• 研究论文 • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Extreme conditions of the Antarctic enhanced Chinese expeditioners' lung function

Cheng-li XU, Wei-na CHEN, Li CHEN, Quan-fu XUE, Bao-shen QI, Guang-jin ZHU   

  1. Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, CAMS, School of Basic Medicine, CAMS & PUMC
  • Received:2008-01-18 Revised:2008-01-30 Online:2008-04-25 Published:2008-04-25
  • Contact: Cheng-li XU,

Abstract: Objective Explore the effects of different latitude of extreme environment of the Antarctic on Chinese expeditioners' lung function. Methods Lung function was evaluated in 12 wintering expeditioners at ChangCheng station, 16 wintering expeditioners at ZhongShan station of the 20th Antarctic scientific expedition and 8 summering expeditioners at Dome-A zone of the 21th expedition before departure and after return during the period of Dec,2003-Mar,2005, using the Scope Rotary portable instrument lung function. Results Peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) of wintering expeditioners of ChangCheng station who stayed in Antarctica for 12 months increased 12% compared with before departure (p<0.05). Peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) of wintering expeditioners of ZhongShan station who stayed in Antarctica for 15 months increased 9% (p<0.05) and vital capacity (VC), inspiratory capacity (IC), forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), 25% forced expiratory flow (FEF25%), maximal breathes capacity (MBC) increased 7%,8%,8%,5%,9%,10% (p<0.01) respectively compared with before departure. Forced vital capacity (FVC) of 8 summering expeditioners at Dome-A of the 21th expedition who stayed at Dome-A zone (4,000 meters above sea level, average summer temperature -50℃) for 58 days increased 10% (p<0.05) compared with before departure. Conclusions Antarctica residence enhanced expeditioners' lung function. The higher of latitude was, the stronger lung function was.