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Updated: Jul 16, 2026

A Novel Inhalation Mask System to Deliver High Concentrations of Nitric Oxide Gas in Spontaneously Breathing Subjects
Published on: May 4, 2021
Exhaled nitric oxide is decreased by exposure to the hyperbaric oxygen therapy environment
Zudin A Puthucheary1, Jia Liu, Michael Bennett
1UNSW and Department of Respiratory Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Prince of Wales Hospital, Randwick, NSW, Australia.
Unlabelled:
Exhaled nitric oxide (eNO) detects airway inflammation. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is used for tissue hypoxia, but can cause lung damage. We measured eNO following inhalation of oxygen at different tensions and pressures.
Methods:
Part 1, eNO was measured before and after HBOT. Part 2, normal subjects breathed 40% oxygen.
Results:
Baseline eNO levels in patients prior to HBOT exposure were significantly higher than in normal subjects (P < .05). After HBOT, eNO significantly decreased in patients (15.4 +/- 2.0 versus 4.4 +/- 0.5 ppb, P < .001), but not in normal subjects, after either 100% O2 at increased pressure or 40% oxygen, 1 ATA. In an in vitro study, nitrate/nitrite release decreased after 90 minutes HBOT in airway epithelial (A549) cells.
Conclusion:
HBO exposure causes a fall in eNO. Inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) may cause elevated eNO in patients secondary to inflammation, and inhibition of iNOS may be the mechanism of the reduction of eNO seen with HBOT.
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