Dear Colleagues,

If we want to simply depict what extreme environments are, we can consider them as strongly depending on two parameters: temperature and pressure. Both can also be subjected to gravitational changes. As a matter of fact, both dimensions are also firmly linked together. Depending on those two parameters, hydration, the partial pressures of gases, effort, the work of breathing, metabolism and many other essential “ingredients” of human life and performance can vary widely.

Human studies in extreme environments (altitude hypoxia, microgravity, hyperbaric environments, and terrestrial extreme climatic conditions) during the last few decades have expanded knowledge in physiology, highlighting new routes of regulation, breaking previous old concepts, and offering models of certain physiopathological problems in patients.

Some decades ago, on the physiological side, the two parameters that characterize extreme environments were identified as eliciting the production of two particular elements: hypoxia-inducible factors and heat-shock proteins. The two are ubiquitous and essential for cellular life. The first is a factor that triggers around 200 genes responsible for vascular, cellular, and metabolic homeostasis as well as apoptosis. In fact, its beneficial actions in the fight against cancer cells have recently been advocated. The second is a family of proteins acting as chaperones for other proteins and resetting impaired proteic structures.

Not so long ago, it was shown that extreme environments are also able to interact with the genome; in fact, epigenetics seems to play a major role in extreme environments, especially when changes in oxygen partial pressure are involved.

Understanding humans coping with extreme environmental or physiological challenges has helped us to leave behind our comfortable paradigms built on stable “steady states”. Today's measurement systems allow us to analyze our reactions to intermittent stressors and follow the oscillations of our coping mechanisms. This new approach has led us to unexpected understandings. This methodology has also directly improved our translational and multidisciplinary approaches as well as supporting the idea that studying humans in good health in extreme conditions could help us to either understand patients with impaired physiological capacities coping with our environment or better understand the physiology of the elderly.

This issue aims to collect articles on any variations in physiological parameters in response to rapid changes in stressors, mainly, but not limited to, cardiovascular/endothelial adaptations. The proposed articles may encompass but not be limited to molecular mechanisms.

Prof. Dr. Costantino Balestra
Prof. Dr. Jacek Kot
Guest Editors

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• extreme environments
• hypoxia-inducible factors
• heat-shock proteins
• hyperoxia
• hypoxia
• cardiovascular/endothelial adaptations
• physiology
• homeostasis
• apoptosis
• integrative approach
• adaptive mechanisms
• epigenetics