Heat shock increases survival in rats exposed to hyperbaric pressure.

It has been shown that a single bout of exercise performed 20 hours prior to hyperbaric exposure reduces bubble formation and increases survival in rats. Heat shock proteins (HSPs) are stress proteins expressed in cells that are exposed to different stressors. HSPs are known to protect cells, by binding to proteins and stabilizing them. As it is known that a single bout of exercise induces HSPs, and that HSPs exert their protective effects 20-24 hours after the stimulus for induction, we hypothesized that HSPs might be one mechanism behind the observed exercise-induced protection. We hypothesized that rats that expressed HSPs would develop fewer bubbles and have a lower mortality than their non-stressed control group. Twenty-four female Sprague-Dawley rats (300-330 g) were divided into a heat-shock group and a control group and anaesthetized. The rats in the heat-shock group were heated to 42 ± 0.5 degrees Celsius for 15 min. The following day, all rats were compressed to 700 kPa for 45 min in a hyperbaric chamber. The right ventricles were insonated and bubbles were identified and graded. Six of 12 rats in the heat-shock group survive d, while 1 of 12 control rats survived (Chi square = 5.042, P = 0.034). There was no difference in bubble grade between the groups. The study suggests that the effect of heat shock on survival is not the same as observed after exercise, as the heat-shocked rats developed bubbles. However, heat shock appears to protect rats against the effects of bubbles by an independent mechanism.