Full-Face Mask Use during SCUBA Diving Counters Related Oxidative Stress and Endothelial Dysfunction.
Morgan LevenezKate LambrechtsMrakic-Sposta SimonaAlessandra VezzoliPeter GermonpreHadrien PiqueFabio VirgiliGerardo BoscoPierre LafèreCostantino BalestraPublished in: International journal of environmental research and public health (2022)
Impaired flow mediated dilation (FMD), an index of vascular stress, is known after SCUBA diving. This is related to a dysfunction of nitric oxide (NO) availability and a disturbance of the redox status, possibly induced by hyperoxic/hyperbaric gas breathing. SCUBA diving is usually performed with a mask only covering "half face" (HF) and therefore forcing oral breathing. Nasal NO production is involved in vascular homeostasis and, as consequence, can significantly reduce NO possibly promoting vascular dysfunction. More recently, the utilization of "full-face" (FF) mask, allowing nasal breathing, became more frequent, but no reports are available describing their effects on vascular functions in comparison with HF masks. In this study we assessed and compared the effects of a standard shallow dive (20 min at 10 m) wearing either FF or a HF mask on different markers of vascular function (FMD), oxidative stress (ROS, 8-iso-PGF2α) and NO availability and metabolism (NO 2 , NOx and 3-NT and iNOS expression). Data from a dive breathing a hypoxic (16% O 2 at depth) gas mixture with HF mask are shown allowing hyperoxic/hypoxic exposure. Our data suggest that nasal breathing might significantly reduce the occurrence of vascular dysfunction possibly due to better maintenance of NO production and bioavailability, resulting in a better ability to counter reactive oxygen and nitrogen species. Besides the obvious outcomes in terms of SCUBA diving safety, our data permit a better understanding of the effects of oxygen concentrations, either in normal conditions or as a strategy to induce selected responses in health and disease.
Keyphrases
- oxidative stress
- nitric oxide
- dna damage
- healthcare
- public health
- poor prognosis
- ischemia reperfusion injury
- mental health
- positive airway pressure
- reactive oxygen species
- room temperature
- acute heart failure
- obstructive sleep apnea
- machine learning
- emergency department
- metabolic syndrome
- social media
- deep learning
- diabetic rats
- chronic rhinosinusitis
- signaling pathway
- artificial intelligence
- data analysis
- long non coding rna
- stress induced
- health information