Effect of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy on kidney function in metabolic syndrome (MetS) patients

Background: Hyperbaric Oxygen (HBO) therapy is the therapy of inhaling 100% pure oxygen in a hyperbaric chamber of more than 1 absolute atmosphere. Currently, the use of hyperbaric oxygen therapy is increasingly widespread, not only for decompression sickness and diving problems. But it has been used for clinical therapy, cosmetics, and geriatric care. The American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has also confirmed various clinical indications, especially those related to metabolic syndromes such as Diabetes Mellitus (DM) and Diabetic Foot Ulcers (DFU). But the use of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for kidney disease has not been fully study yet. Purpose: Here we summarized the scientific reason to use this therapy as adjuvant for patients with chronic kidney disease due to metabolic syndrome. Opinion: Several benefits of HBO has been reported such as reducing oxidative stress, alleviate vascular dysfunction and amyloid burden, ischemia and reperfusion injury, Increased NO production, and suggested to be useful as an adjuvant therapy in T2DM suspected with chronic kidney disease (CKD), as HBO therapy decrease the proteinuria by 50%. Renal hypoxia is the underlying causes of CK progression and associated hypertension. In hypoxic conditions, cells lack of oxygen, so that the cells carry out anaerobic metabolism or fermentation or Warburg effect. HBO therapy can assist in supplying oxygen more quickly at the cellular level (internal respiration), so that metabolism can re-process aerobically. Conclusion: HBO Therapy improves the patient's general condition in CKD with MetS, thereby preventing kidney disease complications. The effectiveness of HBOT for kidney disease still requires further research with a more frequent and longer treatment.