Full-Face Mask Use during SCUBA Diving Counters Related Oxidative Stress and Endothelial Dysfunction

Morgan Levenez, Kate Lambrechts, Simona Mrakic-Sposta, Alessandra Vezzoli, Peter Germonpré, Hadrien Pique, Fabio Virgili, Gerardo Bosco, Pierre Lafère and Costantino Balestra
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Morgan Levenez: Environmental, Occupational, Aging (Integrative) Physiology Laboratory, Haute Ecole Bruxelles-Brabant (HE2B), 1180 Brussels, Belgium
Kate Lambrechts: Environmental, Occupational, Aging (Integrative) Physiology Laboratory, Haute Ecole Bruxelles-Brabant (HE2B), 1180 Brussels, Belgium
Simona Mrakic-Sposta: Institute of Clinical Physiology, National Research Council (IFC-CNR), Piazza dell’Ospedale Maggiore, 20162 Milano, Italy
Alessandra Vezzoli: Institute of Clinical Physiology, National Research Council (IFC-CNR), Piazza dell’Ospedale Maggiore, 20162 Milano, Italy
Peter Germonpré: Environmental, Occupational, Aging (Integrative) Physiology Laboratory, Haute Ecole Bruxelles-Brabant (HE2B), 1180 Brussels, Belgium
Hadrien Pique: Environmental, Occupational, Aging (Integrative) Physiology Laboratory, Haute Ecole Bruxelles-Brabant (HE2B), 1180 Brussels, Belgium
Fabio Virgili: Council for Agricultural Research and Economics—Food and Nutrition Research Centre (CREA-AN), Via Ardeatina 548, 00187 Rome, Italy
Gerardo Bosco: Environmental Physiology & Medicine Laboratory, Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Padova, 35122 Padova, Italy
Pierre Lafère: Environmental, Occupational, Aging (Integrative) Physiology Laboratory, Haute Ecole Bruxelles-Brabant (HE2B), 1180 Brussels, Belgium
Costantino Balestra: Environmental, Occupational, Aging (Integrative) Physiology Laboratory, Haute Ecole Bruxelles-Brabant (HE2B), 1180 Brussels, Belgium

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 2, 1-14

Abstract: 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.

Keywords: hypoxia; hyperoxia; hyperbaric breathing; nitric oxide; vascular reactions; breathing; extreme environments (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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