• Full-Face Mask Use during SCUBA Diving Counters Related Oxidative Stress and Endothelial DysfunctionPeer reviewedOpen access 

      15 janvier 2022, Levenez, Morgan; LAMBRECHTS, Kate; Mrakic-Sposta, Simona; Vezzoli, Alessandra; Germonpré, Peter; Pique, Hadrien; Virgili, Fabi; Bosco, Gerardo; Lafere, Pierre; BALESTRA, Costantino, HE Bruxelles Brabant
      Article scientifique
      Impaired flow mediated dilation (FMD), an index of vascular stress, is known after SCUBA diving. This is related to a dysfunction of nitric oxide (NO) availability and a disturbance of the redox status, possibly induced by hyperoxic/hyperbaric gas breathing. SCUBA diving is usually performed with a mask only covering "half face" (HF) and therefore forcing oral breathing. Nasal NO production is ...
    • Mini Trampoline, a New and Promising Way of SCUBA Diving Preconditioning to Reduce Vascular Gas Emboli?Peer reviewedOpen access 

      29 avril 2022, LAMBRECHTS, Kate; GERMONPRÉ, Peter; Vandenheede, Joaquim; Delorme, Manon; Lafere, Pierre; BALESTRA, Costantino, HE Bruxelles Brabant
      Article scientifique
      Background: Despite evolution in decompression algorithms, decompression illness is still an issue nowadays. Reducing vascular gas emboli (VGE) production or preserving endothelial function by other means such as diving preconditioning is of great interest. Several methods have been tried, either mechanical, cardiovascular, desaturation aimed or biochemical, with encouraging results. In this study, ...
    • Varying Oxygen Partial Pressure Elicits Blood-Borne Microparticles Expressing Different Cell-Specific Proteins-Toward a Targeted Use of Oxygen?Peer reviewedOpen access 

      17 juillet 2022, BALESTRA, Costantino; Arya, Awadhesh; Leveque, Clément; Virgili, Fabio; GERMONPRÉ, Peter; LAMBRECHTS, Kate; Lafere, Pierre; Thom, Stephen, HE Bruxelles Brabant
      Article scientifique
      Oxygen is a powerful trigger for cellular reactions, but there are few comparative investigations assessing the effects over a large range of partial pressures. We investigated a metabolic response to single exposures to either normobaric (10%, 15%, 30%, 100%) or hyperbaric (1.4 ATA, 2.5 ATA) oxygen. Forty-eight healthy subjects (32 males/16 females; age: 43.7 +/- 13.4 years, height: 172.7 +/- 10.07 ...