Decompression sickness-on-a-chip
October 2023
University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, USA
The aim of this study was to investigate the contribution of immune cells to decompression sickness (DCS), which can e.g, occur when divers ascent too rapidly to the surface. Therefore, the immune responses of peripheral blood mononuclear cells were measured within human lung-on–a-chip devices (obtained by Emulate) established with primary alveolar cells and microvascular cells.
The devices were pressurized to 1.0 or 3.5 atm for 1 h and surrounded by normal air or oxygen-reduced air. Phenotyping of neutrophils, monocytes, and dendritic cells from whole blood as well as multiplexed ELISA revealed that immune responses occur within 1 hour and that normal air confer greater immune activation.
This work strongly suggests innate immune cell reactions contribute to the aetiology of DCS. Moreover, the lung-on-a-chip offers a possibility for the screening of prophylactic drugs that can temper the immune reaction.
Dissolved gases from pressure changes in the lungs elicit an immune response in human peripheral blood
Charles Wyatt Shields
Added on: 12-02-2023
[1] https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.10.18.562856v1
