The effect of hyperbaric oxygen on senescent cells and their properties

Abstract: Background: Ageing is associated with age-related disease and it has been divided into 12 hallmarks and cellular senescence is one of them. Cellular senescence increases with age and has different pathological inducing aspects in the tissue. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is used in the clinic to treat different pathological conditions and has emerged as a possible intervention for the reduction of senescent cells. Reducing senescent cells could be a way to reduce the effects of ageing and therefore possibly in the future treat age-related diseases. Aim: This systematic literature review aims to investigate articles researching the effect of HBO exposure on senescent cells and the properties of senescent cells. Methods: PubMed database was used in this systematic literature review. Exclusion and inclusion criteria were specified using the PECO format. A search plan was created using both MeSH words and free text words. An article search was performed twice on 11 th September 2023 and 20 th November 2023. The exclusion and inclusion criteria were used to filter the search results and for the full-text review. Result: 6 articles in total were included in this study. 2 of those included articles were conducted on humans while the rest were conducted on animals or animal cells. Two studies showed that HBOT decreases the number of senescent cells, one study showed that the senescent cell markers and SASP were decreased post-HBOT, two studies showed that the properties of senescent cells were decreased post-HBOT while one study showed the contrary with an increased senescent cell properties. Conclusion: The result of this systematic literature review suggests that there is an association between HBOT and a decrease in senescent cells or its properties. More research is needed though to better understand the relationship between HBOT and the effect it imposes on senescent cells.