Routine hyperbaric treatment increased telomere length and reduced senescence in humans.

With age, tissues lose their ability to function properly, leading to an increased risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and Alzheimer’s disease, among others. Cells become exhausted from replication over time and enter a state of senescence, meaning they will no longer reproduce because they are damaged. Findings of a new report demonstrate the ability of hyperbaric treatments to reduce the number of senescent immune cells.

Hyperbaric (i.e., high air pressure) treatments use increased atmospheric pressure and oxygen content to enhance the total amount of oxygen dissolved in the body, accelerating wound healing. Some forms of routine hyperbaric therapy cause the body to react as if it were experiencing hypoxia (i.e., low blood oxygen), a phenomenon called the hyperoxic-hypoxic paradox. Although some of the hypoxia-associated effects of hyperbaric treatments, such as sirtuin activation, stem cell proliferation, mitochondrial biogenesis, and neurogenesis, are associated with longevity, the effects of hyperbaric therapy on cellular senescence are unknown.

The authors recruited 35 participants aged 60 and older who did not have cognitive decline and lived independently. Participants completed 60 hyperbaric treatments distributed as five sessions per week for three months. Each session consisted of 90 minutes of breathing 100 percent oxygen at a pressure twice that of normal barometric pressure. The researchers collected blood samples at multiple time points to measure markers of senescence in peripheral blood mononuclear cells, which include T cell, B cells, monocytes, and natural killer cells.

By the 30th hyperbaric treatment, participants experienced statistically significant increases in telomere length, a marker of reduced senescence rate, in T-helper cells, B cells, and natural killer cells. Following all 60 treatments, telomere length increased by 30 percent in T-helper cells, 38 percent in B cells, and 22 percent in natural killer cells. Demonstrating further benefit, hyperbaric treatment reduced the number of senescent T-helper cells by 12 percent and cytotoxic T cells by 11 percent after 60 sessions.

These results show, for the first time in humans, that routine hyperbaric treatment reduced the rate of aging in immune cells. However, because this study utilized a small sample, reported large variations in the data, and did not contain a control group, these results must be replicated with future research before they can be fully interpreted.

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