The impact of hyperbaric oxygen therapy on the redox balance of patients with diabetic foot syndrome

Diabetic foot wounds associated with oxidative stress are treated with hyperbaric oxygen (HBO), but that may also induce the stress itself; therefore, we studied the effect of HBO treatments on the oxidant-antioxidant balance in the venous blood of patients with diabetic foot syndrome. In addition, blood counts were also examined. 14 male patients (24-74 years), at risk of lower limb amputation were treated with 30 HBO procedures (60 min of the inhalation of pure oxygen at a pressure of 2.5 atm per day, 5 days a week). The control group consisted of 29 healthy male volunteers aged 25-69 years. No members of the group had been subjected to HBO therapy previously (ClinicalTrials.gov, no. NCT06401941). The analyzed redox parameters did not change during the experiment in the patients (<i>p</i> > 0.05). The concentration of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) in the plasma was higher in the patients before the first and after the thirtieth HBO treatments when compared to the control group. In contrast, the TBARS concentration in erythrocytes was lower in the patients after the first treatment vs. the controls. Moreover, the higher activity of catalase in the patients' erythrocytes was noted before the therapy and after the first and last treatments compared to the controls. HBO therapy increased the percentage of monocytes and platelet volume, but it decreased the volume of platelets in the patients' blood. HBO therapy does not affect the oxidant-antioxidant balance disturbed in diabetic foot patients.