Attenuating hypothalamic neuron cell damage by hyperbaric oxygen in diabetic rats with heat stroke

Abstract

Alternating hypothalamus‐pituitary‐adrenal axis mechanisms would lead to multiple organ dysfunction or failure. Herein, we attempted to assess whether hypothalamic cell damage caused by heatstroke can be affected by hyperbaric oxygen (HBO2) therapy in streptozotocin‐induced diabetic rats. In this study, anesthetized diabetic rats, immediately after the onset of heatstroke, were divide into two major groups and given the normobaric air (21% O2 in 1.0 atmospheres absolute) or HBO2 (100% O2 at 2.0 atmospheres absolute). Heatstroke was induced by exposing the animals to heat stress (43oC). Another group of anesthetized rat was kept at normothermic state and used as control. The survival time for the HBO2 –treated heatstroke‐diabetic rats increased from the control values 78‐82 minutes to new values of 184‐208 minutes. HBO2 therapy caused a reduction of heatstroke‐induced cellular ischemia, hypoxia, inflammation, and oxidative damage in the hypothalamus of the diabetic rats. Our results suggest that, in diabetic animals, HBO2 therapy may improve outcomes of heatstroke in part by reducing heat‐induced hypothalamic cell damage and other brain regions.