Therapeutic effect of hyperbaric oxygen on carbon monoxide poisoning in pregnant rats and its effect on learning and memory ability of their offspring / 第二军医大学学报

ABSTRACT

Objective To explore the curative effect of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) on carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning of pregnant rats and its effect on learning and memory ability of the offspring rats. Methods A total of 120 pregnant SD rats (E3) were randomly divided into four groups control, CO poisoning, CO poisoning+HBO and CO poisoning+normobaric oxygen (NBO) groups. The rats in the control group were not treated, while those in the other 3 groups were treated with acute CO poisoning. After successful modelling, the rats in the HBO group were treated with HBO (O2=99%, absolute pressure 250 kPa) till delivery, and the rats in the NBO group were treated with NBO (O2=99%, normal pressure) till delivery. The mortality rate of pregnant rats, the number of pups, the body mass of the pups and the mortality rate of pups were recorded, and the memory and learning ability of the offspring rats was assessed with Morris water maze. Results Compared with the CO poisoning group, HBO treatment could significantly reduce the mortality rate of pregnant rats and pups (0 vs 14.8% [4/27], 1.0% [3/292] vs 8.6% [18/209]; P<0.01, P<0.05), increase the number of pups and the body mass of pups (11.2±1.6 vs 9.1±2.1, [6.55±1.13] g vs [5.27±1.02] g; both P<0.05), and enhance the learning and memory ability of pups (escape avoidance latency was significantly shortened in Morris water maze, P<0.01). The above indicators were also improved after NBO treatment, but the effect was significantly lower than HBO treatment (P<0.05). Conclusion Both HBO and NBO can treat CO poisoning of pregnant rats, and can reduce the effects of CO poisoning on learning and memory ability of offspring rats, but the therapeutic effect of HBO treatment is better than NBO.