What Researchers Did
Researchers examined eight experienced saturation divers and eight reference subjects before and at various points during a 19.3-day dry heliox saturation dive to 2.64 MPa (254 msw) to assess changes in their immune systems.
What They Found
NK cell cytotoxicity significantly increased in divers during the compression phase and was significantly higher in divers compared to reference subjects who remained in normoxic conditions. This finding, along with an augmentation in the absolute number of circulating NK cells in divers, suggests activation of specific parts of the innate cellular immune system during hyperbaric exposure.
What This Means for Canadian Patients
This research suggests that monitoring specific immune functions, like NK cell activity, could serve as biomarkers for hyperbaric-induced inflammatory stress in individuals undergoing deep saturation dives. Such monitoring might help assess physiological responses and optimize safety protocols for Canadian professional divers or those undergoing hyperbaric treatments.
Canadian Relevance
This study has no direct Canadian connection as it was not conducted in Canada, nor did it involve Canadian participants or institutions.
Study Limitations
A limitation of this study is the small sample size of eight experienced saturation divers, which may limit the generalizability of the findings.