Study shows beneficial effects of normobaric oxygen on cerebral ischemic injury

Normobaric oxygen has the rapid and non-invasive characteristics and may have therapeutic effects on ischemic/hypoxic disease. Dr. Chunhua Chen and colleagues from Peking University, China found that in rats which inhaled normobaric oxygen before focal cerebral ischemia, neurological deficits were improved and infarct volume was reduced; the expression of hypoxia-inducible factor-1α, Notch-1, vascular endothelial growth factor and erythropoietin were increased; neurological deficit scores increased; the hypoxia-inducible factor inhibitor 2-methoxyestradiol treatment could suppress the protective effect of normobaric oxygen.

Given these observations, normobaric oxygen exposure could prevent cerebral ischemic/reperfusion injury, and this protective effect might be exerted via regulating the hypoxia-inducible factor signaling pathway. This finding, published in the Neural Regeneration Research (Vol. 8, No. 31, 2013), illustrates the beneficial effects of normobaric oxygen application as a potential treatment strategy.