SHORT- AND LONG-TERM CLINICAL EFFECTS OF THE HYPOXIA EXPOSURE FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH PARKINSON'S DISEASE

• Grant number: 25/19936-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Post-doctor
• Start date: January 01, 2026
• End date: December 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Physical Education
• Principal Investigator: Fabio Augusto Barbieri
• Grantee: Carlos Augusto Kalva Filho
• Supervisor: Dick Thijssen
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências (FC). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Bauru. Bauru , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Radboud University Medical Center (Radboudumc), Netherlands
• Associated to the scholarship: 23/06865-5 - EFFECTS OF MULTIMODAL EXERCISE ASSOCIATED WITH INTER-EFFORT RECOVERY HYPOXIA IN PEOPLE WITH PARKINSON'S DISEASE, BP.PD

Abstract

Researchers at Radboud University Medical Center are pioneers in applying reduced oxygen availability (i.e., hypoxia) as a complementary strategy for treating people with Parkinson's disease (PD). Previous acute findings demonstrated that i) adverse events occurred at comparable incidence across hypoxia and placebo protocols, ii) participants reported low discomfort and high feasibility, and iii) symptoms improved most favorably after intermittent hypoxia at 16.3%. Short-term studies further showed that four weeks of home-based intermittent hypoxia induced favorable physiological adaptations (e.g., increased erythropoietin levels). Building on this evidence, the present project will investigate i) the short- and long-term effects of hypoxia therapy on motor and non-motor symptoms, and ii) the patient characteristics and physiological responses associated with clinical benefit. Eighty individuals with PD (Hoehn & Yahr stage < III) will be randomly assigned to one of two home-based intervention groups: hypoxia therapy (HT; n = 40) or control (CON; n = 40). Both groups will perform 35-min sessions three times per week. The HT group will receive intermittent hypoxia consisting of 4 × 5 min at 16.3%, interspersed with three cycles of normoxia (20.9%), while the CON group will receive 35 min of normoxia (20.9%). Participants will use a user-friendly hypoxia generator developed by Dutch research team. Assessments will be conducted at baseline, after 4 weeks (short-term), after 4 months (long-term), and at a 2-month follow-up. Outcomes will include i) clinical safety, ii) clinical effects (participant-reported outcomes and assessor-rated standardized motor scales), and iii) user-friendliness questionnaires. Additionally, several baseline measures will be collected-not as outcomes but as potential effect modifiers-including stress, mood, quality of life, and physical activity. We expect the intervention to improve both motor and non-motor outcomes as well as overall quality of life in people with PD.