ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVES</b>Deep seawater (DSW) utilization technology has been developed for the fields of medicine and health, among others. To clarify the health effects of DSW as compared with surface seawater (SSW) or tap water (TW), we investigated the changes of immune cell distribution of the peripheral blood, or subjective judgment scores, after hot water bathing.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Ten healthy young men were immersed for 10 min in DSW, SSW and TW heated to 42°C. Blood samples were collected before bathing, immediately after bathing and 60 min after bathing. Total and differential numbers of leucocytes and lymphocyte subsets (CD3, CD4, CD8, CD19, CD16, and CD56) were examined using an automated hematology analyzer and a flow cytometer, respectively. The subjective judgment scores were obtained by an oral comprehension test.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Since the pre-bathing leukocyte count in the TW group was significantly different from those in the DSW and SSW groups, we excluded the findings of TW bathing from consideration. In hot DSW bathing, CD8-lymphocytes increased significantly immediately after bathing (p<0.05), in contrast to hot SSW bathing, in which no significant changes were detected in the lymphocyte subsets. Additionally, there were no significant changes between repeated measurements in the subjective judgment scores, though the score of thermal sensation in SSW bathing showed a significantly higher value immediately after bathing than before bathing (p<0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Our findings suggest that increased CD8-lymphocytes in hot DSW bathing may improve human immune function as well as hot springs do, as compared with SSW bathing. Although hot DSW bathing may have the ability to change human immune cell distribution, well-designed studies are needed to clarify the health effects including not only DSW and SSW but also TW.</p>
ABSTRACT
Objectives: Deep seawater (DSW) utilization technology has been developed for the fields of medicine and health, among others. To clarify the health effects of DSW as compared with surface seawater (SSW) or tap water (TW), we investigated the changes of immune cell distribution of the peripheral blood, or subjective judgment scores, after hot water bathing. Methods: Ten healthy young men were immersed for 10 min in DSW, SSW and TW heated to 42°C. Blood samples were collected before bathing, immediately after bathing and 60 min after bathing. Total and differential numbers of leucocytes and lymphocyte subsets (CD3, CD4, CD8, CD19, CD16, and CD56) were examined using an automated hematology analyzer and a flow cytometer, respectively. The subjective judgment scores were obtained by an oral comprehension test. Results: Since the pre-bathing leukocyte count in the TW group was significantly different from those in the DSW and SSW groups, we excluded the findings of TW bathing from consideration. In hot DSW bathing, CD8-lymphocytes increased significantly immediately after bathing (p<0.05), in contrast to hot SSW bathing, in which no significant changes were detected in the lymphocyte subsets. Additionally, there were no significant changes between repeated measurements in the subjective judgment scores, though the score of thermal sensation in SSW bathing showed a significantly higher value immediately after bathing than before bathing (p<0.01). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that increased CD8-lymphocytes in hot DSW bathing may improve human immune function as well as hot springs do, as compared with SSW bathing. Although hot DSW bathing may have the ability to change human immune cell distribution, well-designed studies are needed to clarify the health effects including not only DSW and SSW but also TW.
Subject(s)
Cells , CD8 AntigensABSTRACT
Objectives: To determine the effect of hot bathing on blood circulation, we analyzed pressure wave using Wave Intensity (WI), which is defined as changes in blood pressure (dP)×changes in blood flow velocity (dV) during hot bathing, as the index for assessment.<br>Methods: Using a combined Doppler and ultrasonic echo-tracking system, we recorded changes in vascular diameter (dD) and dV of the common carotid artery simultaneously in six healthy subjects before (Pre-bathing), during (Bathing), and 10 minutes after bathing (41°C) (Post-bathing). We then measured the product of their changes at fixed intervals as WI and evaluated the positive component of the early systolic phase (FE) (representing the forward-traveling pressure wave), negative components following FE (B) (representing the reflection pressure wave), and the appearance time of (RT). RT was measured as the percentage ratio.<br>Results: 1) The magnitudes of FE and B tended to decrease during 10min of bathing (Bathing) and recover to the level of the pre-bathing stage after 10min of bathing. 2) The value of RT measured after 10min of bathing (Post-bathing) was significantly longer than the level before bathing (Pre-bathing).<br>Conclusion: The effect of the reflection pressure wave (i. e., the after load on the vascular system) decresses during hot bathing. We can thus conjecture that the time phase of appearance of the reflecting pressure wave is delayed when the arrival time of the forwardtraveling pressure wave to the periphery is delayed and the propagation of the reflection pressure wave from the periphery slows down due to the expansion of vessels during hot bathing. Hot bating can therefore be expected to reduce after loads of healthy adult subjects.