Abstract
The use of hyperbaric oxygen plays a significant role in many aspects of medicine. However, there are few studies that analyzed the role of hyperbaric oxygen, in addition to physical exercise, on the endocrine profile. The aim of this study was to compare changes in plasma male sex hormones after hyperbaric physical exercise with different hyperbaric oxygen pre-conditionings. We recruited six healthy, well-trained recreational male divers. Concentrations of prolactin (PRL), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteotrophic hormone (LH), cortisol, 17-β estradiol (E2), and total testosterone (TT) were measured in venous blood immediately after four different study conditions. Exercise increased PRL and hyperbaric oxygen potentiated this effect. Hyperbaria stimulated the E2 reduction and hyperoxia partially inhibited this reduction. Hyperbaria, but not hyperoxia, stimulated the TT reduction. There were no changes in FSH, LH, and cortisol. The increase in PRL likely reflects a stress response after physical exercise, amplified by hyperbaric oxygen. TT reduction may be interpreted as an acute and transient fertility impairment. Age, blood pressure, and BMI were taken into account as covariates for statistical analyses, and they significantly affected the results, in particular TT. These data open new insight into the role of E2 and PRL in male endocrine adaptive responses.
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Acknowledgments
We thank V. Bianchini (Nase) and Okeo Aqua Fitness (Padua, Italy) for technical support. Our thanks also go to F. Colletta, T. Cappelletti, S. Cipolla, A. Santoro, and all the scientists who assisted and cooperated in conducting the “Tremiti Project”. This study was supported by the Young Project of the Department of Basic and Applied Medical Sciences, G. d’Annunzio University in Chieti-Pescara, Italy.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interest in relation to this article.
Ethical Approval
All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. The experimental procedures were approved by the Ethics Committee for Human Research of the University of Chieti in Italy.
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Written informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
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Verratti, V., Bondi, D., Jandova, T., Camporesi, E., Paoli, A., Bosco, G. (2019). Sex Hormones Response to Physical Hyperoxic and Hyperbaric Stress in Male Scuba Divers: A Pilot Study. In: Pokorski, M. (eds) Advances in Biomedicine. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology(), vol 1176. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/5584_2019_384
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/5584_2019_384
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