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Eccentric exercise 48 h prior to simulated diving has no effect on vascular bubble formation in rats

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Abstract

Purpose

Decompression sickness (DCS) caused by vascular bubble formation is a major risk when diving. Prior studies have shown that physical exercise has a significant impact in both reducing and increasing bubble formation. There is limited knowledge about the mechanisms, but there are indications that exercise-induced muscle injury prior to diving may cause increased bubble formation. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of exercise-induced muscle injury as a possible mechanism of bubble formation during diving.

Methods

Muscle injury was induced by exposing female Sprague–Dawley rats (n = 30) to a single bout of eccentric exercise, 100 min intermittent, downhill (–16°) treadmill running. Forty-eight hours later, the animals were exposed to a 50-min simulated saturation dive (709 kPa) in a pressure chamber, when the degree of muscle injury and inflammation would be the most pronounced. Bubble formation after the dive was observed by ultrasonic imaging for 4 h.

Results

No difference in bubble loads was found between the groups at any time despite evident muscle injury. Maximum bubble loads (bubbles cm−2 heart cycle−1) were not different, exercise: 1.6 ± 3.5 SD vs control: 2.2 ± 4.1 SD, P = 0.90, n = 15 in each group.

Conclusions

Eccentric exercise performed 48 h prior to diving causes skeletal muscle injury but does not increase the amount of vascular bubbles in rats. The prevailing recommendation is that physical activity prior to diving is a risk factor of DCS. However, present and previous studies implicate that pre-dive physical activity does not increase the DCS risk.

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Abbreviations

DCS:

Decompression sickness

IHC:

Immunohistochemistry

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by grants obtained from the Fulbright Foundation, the Norwegian Research Council, Statoil, ExxonMobil and Gassco under Petromaks project 220546 and the Dive Contingency Contract (No. 4600002328) with the Norwegian Underwater Intervention. The authors thank Ragnhild Røsbjørgen for expert technical assistance.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Diagnostic Imaging, St. Olavs University Hospital, Post Box 3250, 7006, Trondheim, Norway

    Arve Jørgensen

  2. Department of Circulation and Medical Imaging, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway

    Arve Jørgensen, Anna Ekdahl, Marianne B. Havnes & Ingrid Eftedal

  3. Department of Anesthesiology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden

    Anna Ekdahl

Authors
  1. Arve Jørgensen
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  2. Anna Ekdahl
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  3. Marianne B. Havnes
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  4. Ingrid Eftedal
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Correspondence to Arve Jørgensen.

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Communicated by Michael Lindinger.

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Jørgensen, A., Ekdahl, A., Havnes, M.B. et al. Eccentric exercise 48 h prior to simulated diving has no effect on vascular bubble formation in rats. Eur J Appl Physiol 115, 597–605 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-014-3046-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-014-3046-z

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