No abstract

Gaseous sulfur-containing compounds are the main products in tumours and preventing the diffusion of these compounds reduces the tumour proliferation rate, which suggests the possibility of a new approach to cancer treatment.

Hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) is a method of augmenting, intermittently, oxygen availability to tissues. We examined the effect of three different HBO exposures on the healing of experimentally induced ligament lacerations in the right hind limb of 44 male Wistar rats. Animals were divided into four groups after ligament injury: (a) control group, animals breathed room air a t 1 ATA (atmosphere absolute) in a hyperbaric chamber for 60 min; (b) HBO treatment at 1.5 ATA for 30 rnin once a day, (c) HBO treatment at 2 ATA for 30 min once a day, (d) 2 ATA for 60 rnin once a day. At 14 days post-ligament injury, we compared the ligaments of the four treatment groups for gross appearance, histology and expression of pro-a( I) mRNA by northern hybridization. Our results indicate that HBO was effective in promoting ligament healing compared to control (p < 0.01). Of these three exposures, HBO at 2 ATA for 60 min was the most effective, resulting in enhanced extra-cellular matrix deposition as measured by collagen synthesis.

In the present study, we examined the effect of intermittent exposure to hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) on experimentally induced tendon laceration in the right hind limb of 56 male Wistar rats. We compared animals treated by HBO (2 atmospheres absolute [ATA] 100% O(2) x 60 min x once per day) with control animals (without HBO) at 3, 7, 14, and 28 days after wound creation. Histology, and pro-alpha1 (I) mRNA by Northern hybridization, pro-alpha1 (III) mRNA, transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1) mRNA by RT-PCR were studied. Our results indicate the use of HBO influences the pro-a1 (I) mRNA expression. The level of pro-alpha1 (I) mRNA was especially increased at 7 14 days after laceration by HBO. These results suggest that intermittent oxygen exposure may play a significant role in collagen synthesis and be beneficial for producing the extracellular matrices in tissue engineering.

Therapeutic Level IV.