The Investigations on the Impact of the Oxygen Hyperbary on the Immunologic Response of the Organism

Knowledge of the impact of hyperbaric conditions, especially hyperbaric oxygen, on human and animal organisms, is of great theoretical and practical importance, particularly in reference to the increased application of hyperbaric oxygen for therapeutic purposes. It must be said that unfortunately our knowledge on the impact of hyperbaria, including oxygen hyperbaria, on the immunological response of the animal and human organisms is still not sufficient and is incomplete. The Institute of the Naval Medicine of the Naval Academy in Gdynia has been carrying out tests in this field for some years now. The tests have been carried out on animals (rabbits, guinea pigs) as well as on humans (commercial divers, scuba divers, and candidates to these activities) within immunology investigations. The impact of hyperbaric oxygen at pressures ranging between 2.8 and 3.1 ata, in single or multiple expositions, have been tested as well as the relations between hyperbaria in air and the different conditions of the exposure.The study revealed important shifts in the immunological response of both the animals and humans.