Hyperbaric oxygen treatment: Clinical trial reverses two biological processes associated with aging in human cells

A new study by Tel Aviv University (TAU) and Shamir Medical Center in Israel shows that hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) for healthy elderly people can prevent the aging of blood cells and reverse the aging process. In a biological sense, as treatment progresses, adult blood cells will actually become younger.

Researchers have discovered that a unique protocol with hyperbaric oxygen treatment pressure chambers can reverse two main processes related to aging and its related diseases: shortening of telomeres (protective areas are located at the ends of each chromosome), accumulation of old and malfunctioning Of cells in the body. This study focused on immune cells containing DNA obtained from the participants’ blood and found that telomeres were lengthened by up to 38%, and telomeres were reduced by up to 37% when senescent cells appeared.

The research was led by Professor Shai Efrati of TAU University’s Sackler School of Medicine and Sager School of Neuroscience, the founder and director of the Sager Hyperbaric Oxygen Medicine Center of Shamir Medical Center; Dr. Amir Hadani is Shamir Medical Chief Medical Research Officer of the Center's Sargo Hyperbaric Medicine and Research Center. This clinical trial is part of a comprehensive research program in Israel that aims to treat aging as a reversible state.

This paper was published in the "Aging" magazine on November 18, 2020.

Professor Efrati explained: "For many years, our team has been engaged in hyperbaric oxygen research and treatment-based on the treatment plan of exposure to different concentrations of hyperbaric oxygen in the pressure chamber." "Over the years, our achievements include improvement due to age, Impaired brain function due to stroke or brain injury.

"In the current study, we hope to examine the effects of HBOT on healthy and independent elderly people, and find out whether this type of treatment can slow down, stop or even reverse the normal aging process at the cellular level."

The researchers asked 35 healthy people aged 64 or older to perform a series of 60 hyperbaric oxygen training sessions over a 90-day period. Each participant provided blood samples before treatment, during treatment, at the end of treatment, and a period of time after the end of a series of treatments. The researchers then analyzed various immune cells in the blood and compared the results.

Research results show that these treatments actually reverse the aging process in two main ways: the telomeres at the end of the chromosomes become longer rather than shorter, and the telomeres of different cell types grow at a rate of 20%-38%; senescent cells are in the whole cell. The proportion in the population is significantly reduced-11%-37% depending on the cell type.

"Today, telomere shortening is considered the "Holy Grail" of aging biology," said Professor Efrati. "Researchers around the world are trying to develop pharmacological and environmental interventions to extend telomeres. Our HBOT protocol enables this, proving that the aging process can actually be reversed at the basic cell-molecular level."

Dr. Hadani added: “So far, interventions such as lifestyle changes and high-intensity exercise have been shown to have a certain inhibitory effect on telomere shortening.” “But in our study, only three months of HBOT Telomeres can be lengthened at a rate much faster than any currently available intervention or lifestyle change. Through this groundbreaking research, we have opened the door to further research on the effects of HBOT on cells and its potential to reverse the aging process. ."