Scientists at Tel Aviv University in Israel have for the first time slowed down the aging of the human immune system using hyperbaric oxygen therapy, which increases telomere length and increases the body’s ability to get rid of damaged cells. A paper presenting the results of scientific work was published in the peer-reviewed journal Aging.
The study involved 35 people aged 64 and older who received a course of 60 daily sessions of hyperbaric oxygen therapy. At the 30th and 60th session, as well as 1-2 weeks after the end of the course, scientists collected blood samples from volunteers and assessed the length of telomeres of mononuclear cells (various immune cells) and the severity of signs of aging.
It turned out that oxygen therapy led to an increase in the length of telomeres in T-helpers, cytotoxic T-lymphocytes, natural killer cells and B-cells by more than 20 percent. The most significant changes were observed in B cells, in which telomere length increased by 37 percent by the end of the study. There was a 37 percent and 10 percent decrease in senescent helper T cells and cytotoxic lymphocytes, respectively.