Oxygen as Medicine: Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for Regeneration and Longevity

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is rapidly evolving from a niche intervention to a versatile platform for regeneration, healthy aging, and potentially longevity-oriented care. By intermittently elevating tissue oxygen tensions, HBOT can provoke adaptive responses that counter functional decline—supporting vascular integrity, metabolic flexibility, neuroplasticity, and immune homeostasis—while targeting hallmarks of aging such as mitochondrial dysfunction, chronic inflammation, impaired stem-cell niches, and genomic instability. Positioned alongside other geroscience-informed interventions, including exercise, dietary modulation, and pharmacologic approaches, HBOT offers a testable framework to delay or reverse age-related deficits and extend healthspan, with measurable impacts on biological aging markers and clinically meaningful outcomes. We invite interdisciplinary submissions from geroscience, clinical physiology, rehabilitation, bioinformatics, policy, and integrative medicine, as well as related fields engaged in aging and regenerative therapeutics.

This Research Topic spotlights HBOT’s capacity to modulate cellular resilience and repair through hyperoxia–normoxia cycling, redox-sensitive signaling, angiogenesis and neurogenesis, mitochondrial biogenesis, senescence attenuation, and telomere and telomerase dynamics. We encourage studies that employ validated aging clocks, molecular diagnostics, and appropriate reference standards to enhance rigor and comparability. We welcome investigations that define dose–response relationships (pressure, duration, frequency, total oxygen dose), optimize protocols for different indications, and identify predictive biomarkers and phenotypes of response. Clinical applications of interest include wound and graft healing, ischemia–reperfusion injury, post-stroke and traumatic brain injury recovery, musculoskeletal and cartilage repair, dermatologic rejuvenation, metabolic and vascular health, and cognition across the lifespan.

Desired study types

Original research. Randomized and pragmatic trials; high-quality observational cohorts and registries; mechanistic and preclinical studies; imaging and multi-omics; computational modeling.

Reviews and evidence syntheses. Systematic reviews, meta-analyses, scoping reviews, and rigorous narrative reviews.

Translational, implementation, and policy. Implementation science; safety, contraindications, and risk mitigation; patient selection; cost-effectiveness and health-policy implications; real-world evaluation and reporting standards.

Critical perspectives, replication studies, and well-reported null results are welcome to sharpen evidentiary standards and accelerate translation. By integrating mechanistic insights with rigorous clinical evaluation, this Topic aims to chart credible, patient-centered pathways for HBOT within regenerative medicine and longevity care.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Clinical Trial
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Clinical Trial
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT), Regenerative medicine, Healthy aging and longevity, Hyperoxia–hypoxia paradox, Mitochondrial and redox signaling

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.