Human Physiological Responses to a Single Deep Helium-Oxygen Diving

Abstract

Objective: The objective of this study was to explore whether a single deep helium-oxygen (heliox) dive affects physiological function.Methods: A total of 40 male divers performed an open-water heliox dive to 80 m of seawater (msw). The total diving time was 280 min, and the breathing helium-oxygen time was 20 min. Before and after the dive, blood and saliva samples were collected, and blood cell counts, cardiac damage, oxidative stress, vascular endothelial activation, and hormonal biomarkers were assayed.Results: An 80 msw heliox dive induced a significant increase in the percentage of granulocytes (GR %), whereas the percentage of lymphocytes (LYM %), percentage of intermediate cells (MID %), red blood cell number (RBC), hematocrit (hCT), and platelets (PLT) decreased. During the dive, concentrations of creatine kinase (CK), a myocardial-specific isoenzyme of creatine kinase (CK-MB) in serum and amylase alpha 1 (AMY1), and testosterone levels in saliva increased, in contrast, IgA levels in saliva decreased. Diving caused a significant increase in serum glutathione (GSH) levels and reduced vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) levels but had no effect on malondialdehyde (MDA) and endothelin-1 (ET-1) levels.Conclusion: A single 80 msw heliox dive activates the endothelium, causes skeletal-muscle damage, and induces oxidative stress and physiological stress responses, as reflected in changes in biomarker concentrations.

Analysis of the Increase of Vascular Cell Adhesion Molecule-1 (VCAM-1) Expression and the Effect of Exposure in a Hyperbaric Chamber on VCAM-1 in Human Blood Serum: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…The research showed that there were statistically significant differences between the results obtained after exposure to conditions of a 60 m dive and the values measured for the non-divers group (p = 0.0494). VCAM-1 is expressed exclusively on the activated endothelium following vascular insult, and therefore, is a marker of a proinflammatory endothelium, as a study by Bao et al [13] showed.…”

“…The changes in VCAM-1, as a result of diving to a depth of 60 m, were highly statistically significant. A study by Bao et al [13] found that diving caused significantly reduced VCAM-1 levels.…”

“…The relationships were as follows: there was a relationship between the neutrophils count and VCAM-1-the higher the number of neutrophils was, the lower the value of VCAM-1 was (this correlation was statistically significant-p = 0.0456; its strength was average-R = −0.51); a similar relationship was found between the number of leukocytes and VCAM-1 (it was slightly weaker and only close to the level of statistical significance); VCAM-1 was higher in the subjects with a higher lymphocyte ratio (R = 0.44)-this correlation was close to the level of statistical significance (p = 0.0848). In a study performed by Bao et al [13], deep heliox diving caused a significant decrease in red blood cells (RBC) but had no significant effect on hemoglobin (HGB) levels. These changes can be explained by the oxidative damage-induced fragility of the RBC membrane.…”