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Cells Oct 2023Cerebral injury is a leading cause of long-term disability and mortality. Common causes include major cardiovascular events, such as cardiac arrest, ischemic stroke, and... (Review)
Review
Cerebral injury is a leading cause of long-term disability and mortality. Common causes include major cardiovascular events, such as cardiac arrest, ischemic stroke, and subarachnoid hemorrhage, traumatic brain injury, and neurodegenerative as well as neuroinflammatory disorders. Despite improvements in pharmacological and interventional treatment options, due to the brain's limited regeneration potential, survival is often associated with the impairment of crucial functions that lead to occupational inability and enormous economic burden. For decades, researchers have therefore been investigating adjuvant therapeutic options to alleviate neuronal cell death. Although promising in preclinical studies, a huge variety of drugs thought to provide neuroprotective effects failed in clinical trials. However, utilizing medical gases, noble gases, and gaseous molecules as supportive treatment options may offer new perspectives for patients suffering neuronal damage. This review provides an overview of current research, potentials and mechanisms of these substances as a promising therapeutic alternative for the treatment of cerebral injury.
Topics: Humans; Neuroprotection; Noble Gases; Gases; Neuroprotective Agents; Brain Injuries; Neurons
PubMed: 37887324
DOI: 10.3390/cells12202480 -
CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association... Aug 2023
Topics: Humans; Radon; Lung Neoplasms
PubMed: 37553147
DOI: 10.1503/cmaj.230110-f -
British Journal of Pharmacology Apr 2015Several noble gases, although classified as inert substances, exert a tissue-protective effect in different experimental models when applied before organ ischaemia as an... (Review)
Review
Several noble gases, although classified as inert substances, exert a tissue-protective effect in different experimental models when applied before organ ischaemia as an early or late preconditioning stimulus, after ischaemia as a post-conditioning stimulus or when given in combination before, during and/or after ischaemia. A wide range of organs can be protected by these inert substances, in particular cardiac and neuronal tissue. In this review we summarize the data on noble gas-induced cardioprotection, focusing on the underlying protective mechanisms. We will also look at translatability of experimental data to the clinical situation.
Topics: Animals; Cardiotonic Agents; Helium; Humans; Ischemic Preconditioning, Myocardial; Xenon
PubMed: 25363501
DOI: 10.1111/bph.12994 -
The British Journal of Radiology Apr 2018Lung diseases have a high prevalence amongst the world population and their early diagnosis has been pointed out to be key for successful treatment. However, there is... (Review)
Review
Lung diseases have a high prevalence amongst the world population and their early diagnosis has been pointed out to be key for successful treatment. However, there is still a lack of non-invasive examination methods with sensitivity to early, local deterioration of lung function. Proton-based lung MRI is particularly challenging due to short T times and low proton density within the lung tissue. Hyperpolarized gas MRI is aan emerging technology providing a richness of methodologies which overcome the aforementioned problems. Unlike proton-based MRI, lung MRI of hyperpolarized gases may rely on imaging of spins in the lung's gas spaces or inside the lung tissue and thereby add substantial value and diagnostic potential to lung MRI. This review article gives an introduction to the MR physics of hyperpolarized media and presents the current state of hyperpolarized gas MRI of Headvasd and Xe in pulmonology. Key applications, ranging from static and dynamic ventilation imaging as well as oxygen-pressure mapping to Xe dissolved-phase imaging and spectroscopy are presented. Hyperpolarized gas MRI is compared to alternative examination methods based on MRI and future directions of hyperpolarized gas MRI are discussed.
Topics: Administration, Inhalation; Gases; Helium; Humans; Image Enhancement; Lung Diseases; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Noble Gases; Pulmonary Medicine; Xenon Isotopes
PubMed: 29271239
DOI: 10.1259/bjr.20170647 -
Anesthesiology Sep 2018
Topics: Anesthesia, Intravenous; Coronary Artery Bypass; Sevoflurane; Troponin; Xenon
PubMed: 30106784
DOI: 10.1097/ALN.0000000000002317 -
Magnetic Resonance Imaging Clinics of... May 2015Functional imaging offers information more sensitive to changes in lung structure and function. Hyperpolarized helium ((3)He) and xenon ((129)Xe) MR imaging of the lungs... (Review)
Review
Functional imaging offers information more sensitive to changes in lung structure and function. Hyperpolarized helium ((3)He) and xenon ((129)Xe) MR imaging of the lungs provides sensitive contrast mechanisms to probe changes in pulmonary ventilation, microstructure, and gas exchange. Gas imaging has shifted to the use of (129)Xe. Xenon is well-tolerated. (129)Xe is soluble in pulmonary tissue, which allows exploring specific lung function characteristics involved in gas exchange and alveolar oxygenation. Hyperpolarized gases and (129)Xe in particular stand to be an excellent probe of pulmonary structure and function, and provide sensitive and noninvasive biomarkers for pulmonary diseases.
Topics: Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Helium; Humans; Isotopes; Lung; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Pulmonary Gas Exchange; Xenon Isotopes
PubMed: 25952516
DOI: 10.1016/j.mric.2015.01.003 -
PloS One 2023We investigate the water sources for a perennial spring, "Little Black Pond," located at Expedition Fiord, Axel Heiberg Island in the Canadian High Arctic based on...
We investigate the water sources for a perennial spring, "Little Black Pond," located at Expedition Fiord, Axel Heiberg Island in the Canadian High Arctic based on dissolved gases. We measured the dissolved O2 in the likely sources Phantom Lake and Astro Lake and the composition of noble gases (3He/4He, 4He, Ne,36Ar, 40Ar, Kr, Xe), N2, O2, CO2, H2S, CH4, and tritium dissolved in the outflow water and bubbles emanating from the spring. The spring is associated with gypsum-anhydrite piercement structures and occurs in a region of thick, continuous permafrost (400-600 m). The water columns in Phantom and Astro lakes are uniform and saturated with O2. The high salinity of the water emanating from the spring, about twice sea water, affects the gas solubility. Oxygen in the water and bubbles is below the detection limit. The N2/Ar ratio in the bubbles and the salty water is 89.9 and 40, respectively, and the relative ratios of the noble gases, with the exception of Neon, are consistent with air dissolved in lake water mixed with air trapped in glacier bubbles as the source of the gases. The Ne/Ar ratio is ~62% of the air value. Our results indicate that about half (0.47±0.1) of the spring water derives from the lakes and the other half from subglacial melt. The tritium and helium results indicate that the groundwater residence time is over 70 years and could be thousands of years.
Topics: Water; Tritium; Canada; Noble Gases; Helium; Oxygen; Lakes
PubMed: 37011053
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0282877 -
Nature Communications Jun 2022Deep within the Precambrian basement rocks of the Earth, groundwaters can sustain subsurface microbial communities, and are targets of investigation both for geologic...
Deep within the Precambrian basement rocks of the Earth, groundwaters can sustain subsurface microbial communities, and are targets of investigation both for geologic storage of carbon and/or nuclear waste, and for new reservoirs of rapidly depleting resources of helium. Noble gas-derived residence times have revealed deep hydrological settings where groundwaters are preserved on millions to billion-year timescales. Here we report groundwaters enriched in the highest concentrations of radiogenic products yet discovered in fluids, with an associated Kr excess in the free fluid, and residence times >1 billion years. This brine, from a South African gold mine 3 km below surface, demonstrates that ancient groundwaters preserved in the deep continental crust on billion-year geologic timescales may be more widespread than previously understood. The findings have implications beyond Earth, where on rocky planets such as Mars, subsurface water may persist on long timescales despite surface conditions that no longer provide a habitable zone.
Topics: Earth, Planet; Geology; Groundwater; Microbiota; Noble Gases
PubMed: 35773264
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-31412-2 -
British Journal of Anaesthesia Aug 2022The noble gases argon and xenon are potential novel neuroprotective treatments for acquired brain injuries. Xenon has already undergone early-stage clinical trials in... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis Review
BACKGROUND
The noble gases argon and xenon are potential novel neuroprotective treatments for acquired brain injuries. Xenon has already undergone early-stage clinical trials in the treatment of ischaemic brain injuries, with mixed results. Argon has yet to progress to clinical trials as a treatment for brain injury. Here, we aim to synthesise the results of preclinical studies evaluating argon and xenon as neuroprotective therapies for brain injuries.
METHODS
After a systematic review of the MEDLINE and Embase databases, we carried out a pairwise and stratified meta-analysis. Heterogeneity was examined by subgroup analysis, funnel plot asymmetry, and Egger's regression.
RESULTS
A total of 32 studies were identified, 14 for argon and 18 for xenon, involving measurements from 1384 animals, including murine, rat, and porcine models. Brain injury models included ischaemic brain injury after cardiac arrest (CA), neurological injury after cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), traumatic brain injury (TBI), and ischaemic stroke. Both argon and xenon had significant (P<0.001), positive neuroprotective effect sizes. The overall effect size for argon (CA, TBI, stroke) was 18.1% (95% confidence interval [CI], 8.1-28.1%), and for xenon (CA, TBI, stroke) was 34.1% (95% CI, 24.7-43.6%). Including the CPB model, only present for xenon, the xenon effect size (CPB, CA, TBI, stroke) was 27.4% (95% CI, 11.5-43.3%). Xenon, both with and without the CPB model, was significantly (P<0.001) more protective than argon.
CONCLUSIONS
These findings provide evidence to support the use of xenon and argon as neuroprotective treatments for acquired brain injuries. Current evidence suggests that xenon is more efficacious than argon overall.
Topics: Animals; Argon; Brain Injuries; Brain Ischemia; Heart Arrest; Mice; Neuroprotection; Neuroprotective Agents; Noble Gases; Rats; Stroke; Swine; Xenon
PubMed: 35688658
DOI: 10.1016/j.bja.2022.04.016 -
Science Progress 2012Sir William Ramsay was one of the world's leading scientists at the end of the 19th century, and in a spectacular period of research between 1894 and 1898, he discovered... (Review)
Review
Sir William Ramsay was one of the world's leading scientists at the end of the 19th century, and in a spectacular period of research between 1894 and 1898, he discovered five new elements. These were the noble gases, helium, neon, argon, krypton, and xenon; they added a whole new group to the Periodic Table of the elements, and provided the keystone to our understanding of the electronic structure of atoms, and the way those electrons bind the atoms together into molecules. For this work he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1904, the first such prize to come to a British subject. He was also a man of great charm, a good linguist, and a composer and performer of music, poetry and song. This review will trace his career, describe his character and give and account of the chemistry which led to the award of the Nobel Prize.
Topics: Chemistry; History, 19th Century; London; Nobel Prize; Noble Gases
PubMed: 22574384
DOI: 10.3184/003685012X13307058213813