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November 22, 2020
from
TelAvivUniversity Website
Spanish version
New
research finds
that high
pressure treatments
can reverse two
processes
associated with
aging and its illnesses...
A first-of-its-kind clinical trial in human subjects:
A new study from Tel
Aviv University and the Shamir Medical Center indicates that
HBOT (treatments with
high-pressure oxygen) in healthy aging adults can stop the aging
of blood cells.
The researchers found
that a unique protocol of treatments in a pressure chamber
can reverse two major processes associated with aging and its
illnesses:
the shortening of
telomeres - protective regions located at both ends of every
chromosome (the chromosomes contain the genetic material in the
cell's nucleus) - and the accumulation of senescent (old and
malfunctioning) cells in the body.
Focusing on immune cells
containing DNA, obtained from the participants' blood, the study
discovered a significant lengthening - up to 38% - of the
telomeres, as well as a decrease of
up to 37% in the presence of
senescent cells.
The study was led
by Prof. Shai Efrati,
faculty member
of the
Sackler School of Medicine and
the
Sagol School of Neuroscience at
Tel Aviv University and Founder and Director of the Sagol Center
of Hyperbaric Medicine at the Shamir Medical Center,
...and
Dr. Amir Hadanny,
Chief Medical
Research Officer of the Sagol Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and
Research at the Shamir Medical Center.
The clinical trial
was conducted as part of a comprehensive Israeli research program
that targets aging as a reversible disease.
The paper (Hyperbaric
Oxygen Therapy increases Telomere Length and Decreases
Immunosenescence in Isolated Blood Cells - A prospective Trial)
was published in the scientific journal Aging in November
2020.
Prof. Efrati
explains:
"For many years
our team has been engaged in hyperbaric research and therapy -
treatments based on protocols of exposure to high-pressure
oxygen at various concentrations inside a pressure chamber.
Our
achievements over the years included the improvement of brain
functions damaged by age, stroke or brain injury.
In the current
study we wished to examine the impact of HBOT on healthy and
independent aging adults, and to discover whether such
treatments can slow down, stop or even reverse the normal aging
process at the cellular level."
The researchers
exposed 35 healthy individuals aged 64 or over to a series of 60
hyperbaric sessions over a period of 90 days.
Each participant
provided blood samples at four different points in time - before,
during, at the end and after the series of treatments, and the
researchers analyzed various immune cells (cells containing DNA) in
the blood and compared the results.
The findings
indicated that the treatments actually reversed the aging process in
two of its major aspects:
-
The
telomeres at the ends of the chromosomes grew longer instead
of shorter, at a rate of 20%-38% for the different cell
types.
-
The
percentage of senescent cells in the overall cell population
was reduced significantly - by 11%-37% depending on cell
type.
Prof. Efrati:
"Today telomere
shortening is considered the 'Holy Grail' of the biology of
aging.
Researchers
around the world are trying to develop pharmacological and
environmental interventions that enable telomere elongation.
Our HBOT
protocol was able to achieve this, proving that the aging
process can in fact be reversed at the basic cellular-molecular
level."
Dr. Hadanny:
"Until now,
interventions such as lifestyle modifications and intense
exercise were shown to have some inhibiting effect on telomere
shortening.
But in our
study, only three months of HBOT were able to elongate telomeres
at rates far beyond any currently available interventions or
lifestyle modifications.
With this
pioneering study, we have opened a door for further research on
the cellular impact of HBOT and its potential for reversing the
aging process.”
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