What Researchers Did
Scientists gave hyperbaric oxygen therapy to rats with a spinal cord injury in the neck and studied how it changed gene activity and tissue in the injured area.
What They Found
This animal study found that hyperbaric oxygen therapy, given as daily one-hour sessions at 3.0 ATA with 100% oxygen for 10 days starting the day of injury, changed gene activity in the injured spinal cord. Gene analysis showed increased activity in genes related to electron transport, mitochondrial function, and oxidative phosphorylation, and decreased activity in genes related to inflammation and cell death signaling. In a separate group of rats, tissue examination found more NeuN-positive cells (a marker of surviving neurons) in the treated animals compared to untreated animals (p equals 0.004). The researchers concluded that the therapy altered the spinal cord's molecular signature in a way consistent with a neuroprotective effect.
Canadian Relevance
No direct Canadian connection identified.
Study Limitations
This was an animal study using rats, so the findings may not translate to human spinal cord injury patients, and the abstract does not report the sample size for either the gene array or histology cohorts.