Hypobaric hypoxia does not affect lung fluid or protein exchange in awake adult sheep at rest

Abstract

We measured pulmonary artery [Formula: see text] and left atrial [Formula: see text] pressures, lung lymph flow, and lymph/plasma protein concentrations in four adult sheep at a barometric pressure of 380 Torr (1 Torr = 133.322 Pa) for 22 h. Hypobaric hypoxia caused an immediate increase in [Formula: see text] from 20 to 39 Torr. There was no significant change in [Formula: see text], lymph flow, or lymph protein concentrations. We conclude that hypobaric hypoxia does not affect lung fluid or protein exchange in awake adult sheep at rest.