STUDY.OF THE EARLY EFFECTS OF HYPERBARIC OXYGEN BREATHING ON THE CELLULAR AND BIOCHEMICAL PROFILE OF BRONCHOALVEOLARLAVAGEIN DIVERS

Abstract

Exposure to high concentration of oxygen for prolonged periods is

known to cause "oxygen toxicity". ,. The present study was designed to evaluate several indices possibly reflecting some of the biologic processes taking place in the lung parenchyma and pulmonary capillaries with subsequent reflection on the pulmonary function abnormalities. This may precede the permanent derangement to lung parenchyma, that is associated with extended exposure to high concentrations of oxygen. To accomplish this, we used bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) to recover inflammatory cells and the epithelial lining fluid of the lower respiratory tract to evaluate some possible biochemical indices of oxygen toxicity in the studied subjects before and after exposure to 100% oxygen at 3 ATA for 2 hours. Also pulmonary function tests were done for the same reason. • The present study included 20 male divers from the Egyptian Naval Rescue salvage unit. They were all healthy nonsmokers without history of previous diseases. All divers after clinical examination and laboratory investigations were considered completely free. The data for I I each diver before exposure to hyperbaric oxygen; while breathing ambient air, were considered as the control data. Pulmonary function tests as well as BAL were done for each diver to characterize baseline '