Acute Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Alters Vascular Reactivity Independent of ATP

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO), breathing 100 percent oxygen at greater than one atmosphere, has been prescribed for many different medical reasons. The mechanism for HBO, however, is not entirely understood. Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is the main energy carrier molecule in the body and its production requires oxygen. By increasing the amount of oxygen carried by the blood, the amount of ATP could also increase. This possible mechanism for HBO was tested using the addition of exogenous ATP on approximately five millimeter wide rings of fresh porcine gut arteries. The vascular rings were attached to a force transducer which measured the change in force exerted by the vascular rings when exposed to ATP. The addition of ATP to the vascular rings that did not undergo any hyperbaric treatment did not result in a statistically significant change in force (p\u3e0.05). The addition of ATP to the vascular rings that did undergo hyperbaric treatments also did not result in statistically significant change in force (p\u3e0.05). These results suggest that the HBO mechanism is independent of changes in ATP