AUTHOR=Mielecki Damian , Godlewski Jakub , Salinska Elzbieta 

TITLE=Hyperbaric oxygen therapy for the treatment of hypoxic/ischemic injury upon perinatal asphyxia—are we there yet?

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Neurology

VOLUME=Volume 15 - 2024

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neurology/articles/10.3389/fneur.2024.1386695

DOI=10.3389/fneur.2024.1386695

ISSN=1664-2295

ABSTRACT=Birth asphyxia and its main sequel, hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, are one of the main causes of children's deaths worldwide and can potentially worsen the quality of life in subsequent years. Despite many efforts in research, there is no efficient therapy against the consequences of hypoxia-ischemia that occurs in the perinatal period of life. The promising approach is the use of hyperbaric oxygen that would improve the main consequences of birth asphyxia, such as lowered partial oxygen pressure in tissue, apoptosis of neuronal cells, and impaired angiogenesis. In this review, we focused on the selected aspects of mainly experimental hyperbaric oxygen therapy.The therapeutic window for the treatment of perinatal asphyxia is very narrow but administering hyperbaric oxygen in the following days can still improve outcomes. It was shown that several miRNAs, like mir-107, are responsible for the therapeutic effect of hyperbaric oxygen by modulating the Wnt pathway, inhibiting apoptosis, increasing angiogenesis, or inducing neural stem cells. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy was also combined with drugs, such as memantine or ephedrine, with good results. The different aspect is the use of preconditioning with hyperbaric oxygen. Preliminary clinical trials with hyperbaric oxygen therapy used in perinatal asphyxia give very promising results.