Adaptations and Disturbances of Physiological Functions in Extreme Hyperbaric Environments

Academician E.M. Kreps founded the Laboratory of Hyperbaric Physiology in 1960. Heads of the Laboratory were G.L. Zaltsman (1960–1972), A.I. Selivra (1972–1975), I.A. Aleksandrov (1975–1982) and I.T. Demchenko (1983–2009). In 2009, the Laboratory was merged with the Laboratory of Respiratory Physiology (A.I. Krivchenko). For more than five decades, Hyperbaric Laboratory has conducted basic and applied researches dealt with CNS oxygen toxicity, the high pressure nervous syndrome and nitrogen narcosis. Main achievements of basic researches are as follows: identified key mechanisms of adaptive responses of CNS and cardiorespiratory systems to breathing gas mixtures at high pressure, neurophysiological mechanisms of CNS oxygen toxicity and high pressure nervous syndrome, and pathogenesis of nitrogen narcosis. Main achievements of the translation of hyperbaric researches are as follows: new technology for 1000 m dive of animals (monkeys) using the gas mixture (He-N2-O2), new compression and decompression profiles for free escape of monkey from a depth of 700 m, use preconditional hypoxia and hyperthermia for the protection of nitrogen narcosis. Currently, main researches are focusing on the evaluation of molecular and cellular mechanisms of biological responses to extreme hyperbaric environments.