Current strategies for improving energy supply in hypobaric hypoxic environments are limited. Therefore, this study investigates the effects of four carbohydrates with different levels of digestibility on energy metabolism in vivo in hypobaric hypoxic environments. First, we characterized the four types of carbohydrates. Subsequently, reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) was used to characterize the expression of GLUT1, GLUT2, and SGLT1 in the glucose transport pathway in vivo. In addition, the effects of different levels of carbohydrate digestibility on energy expenditure were evaluated in vivo. The results showed that pre-gelatinized corn starch significantly increased GLUT1 gene expression in the hypobaric hypoxic conditions (1.58 times, compared to normobaric normoxic). In addition, pre-gelatinized corn starch increased energy expenditure in the hypobaric hypoxic conditions and performed better in terms of glycogen accumulation and glucose transport. Therefore, pre-gelatinized corn starch administration may be a promising strategy for long-term energy supplementation in hypobaric hypoxic.
Keywords: Digestion; Energy supplement; Glycometabolism; Maize starch; Pre-gelatinized starch.
Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.