Evidence of Heritable Determinants of Decompression Sickness in Rats

Introduction Decompression sickness (DCS) is a complex and poorly understood systemic disease caused by inadequate desaturation after a decrease of ambient pressure. Strong variability between individuals is observed for DCS occurrence. This raises questions concerning factors that may be involved i...

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Main Authors: Lautridou, J., Buzzacott, Peter, Belhomme, M., Dugrenot, E., Lafère, P., Balestra, C., Guerrero, F.
Format: Journal Article
Published: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins 2017
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/71543
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author Lautridou, J.
Buzzacott, Peter
Belhomme, M.
Dugrenot, E.
Lafère, P.
Balestra, C.
Guerrero, F.
author_facet Lautridou, J.
Buzzacott, Peter
Belhomme, M.
Dugrenot, E.
Lafère, P.
Balestra, C.
Guerrero, F.
author_sort Lautridou, J.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Introduction Decompression sickness (DCS) is a complex and poorly understood systemic disease caused by inadequate desaturation after a decrease of ambient pressure. Strong variability between individuals is observed for DCS occurrence. This raises questions concerning factors that may be involved in the interindividual variability of DCS occurrence. This study aimed to experimentally assess the existence of heritable factors involved in DCS occurrence by selectively breeding individuals resistant to DCS from a population stock of Wistar rats. Methods Fifty-two male and 52 female Wistar rats were submitted to a simulated air dive known to reliably induce about 63% DCS: compression was performed at 100 kPa·min-1up to 1000 kPa absolute pressure before a 45-min long stay. Decompression was performed at 100 kPa·min-1with three decompression stops: 5 min at 200 kPa, 5 min at 160 kPa, and 10 min at 130 kPa. Animals were observed for 1 h to detect DCS symptoms. Individuals without DCS were selected and bred to create a new generation, subsequently subjected to the same hyperbaric protocol. This procedure was repeated up to the third generation of rats. Results As reported previously, this diving profile induced 67% of DCS, and 33% asymptomatic animals in the founding population. DCS/asymptomatic ratio was not initially different between sexes, although males were heavier than females. In three generations, the outcome of the dive significantly changed from 33% to 67% asymptomatic rats, for both sexes. Interestingly, survival in females increased sooner than in males. Conclusions This study offers evidence suggesting the inheritance of DCS resistance. Future research will focus on genetic and physiological comparisons between the initial strain and the new resistant population.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-715432018-12-13T09:33:48Z Evidence of Heritable Determinants of Decompression Sickness in Rats Lautridou, J. Buzzacott, Peter Belhomme, M. Dugrenot, E. Lafère, P. Balestra, C. Guerrero, F. Introduction Decompression sickness (DCS) is a complex and poorly understood systemic disease caused by inadequate desaturation after a decrease of ambient pressure. Strong variability between individuals is observed for DCS occurrence. This raises questions concerning factors that may be involved in the interindividual variability of DCS occurrence. This study aimed to experimentally assess the existence of heritable factors involved in DCS occurrence by selectively breeding individuals resistant to DCS from a population stock of Wistar rats. Methods Fifty-two male and 52 female Wistar rats were submitted to a simulated air dive known to reliably induce about 63% DCS: compression was performed at 100 kPa·min-1up to 1000 kPa absolute pressure before a 45-min long stay. Decompression was performed at 100 kPa·min-1with three decompression stops: 5 min at 200 kPa, 5 min at 160 kPa, and 10 min at 130 kPa. Animals were observed for 1 h to detect DCS symptoms. Individuals without DCS were selected and bred to create a new generation, subsequently subjected to the same hyperbaric protocol. This procedure was repeated up to the third generation of rats. Results As reported previously, this diving profile induced 67% of DCS, and 33% asymptomatic animals in the founding population. DCS/asymptomatic ratio was not initially different between sexes, although males were heavier than females. In three generations, the outcome of the dive significantly changed from 33% to 67% asymptomatic rats, for both sexes. Interestingly, survival in females increased sooner than in males. Conclusions This study offers evidence suggesting the inheritance of DCS resistance. Future research will focus on genetic and physiological comparisons between the initial strain and the new resistant population. 2017 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/71543 10.1249/MSS.0000000000001385 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins restricted
spellingShingle Lautridou, J.
Buzzacott, Peter
Belhomme, M.
Dugrenot, E.
Lafère, P.
Balestra, C.
Guerrero, F.
Evidence of Heritable Determinants of Decompression Sickness in Rats
title Evidence of Heritable Determinants of Decompression Sickness in Rats
title_full Evidence of Heritable Determinants of Decompression Sickness in Rats
title_fullStr Evidence of Heritable Determinants of Decompression Sickness in Rats
title_full_unstemmed Evidence of Heritable Determinants of Decompression Sickness in Rats
title_short Evidence of Heritable Determinants of Decompression Sickness in Rats
title_sort evidence of heritable determinants of decompression sickness in rats
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/71543