The role of antioxidant nutrients in preventing hyperbaric oxygen damage to the retina

Vitamin E and selenium play essential roles in preventing in vivo lipid peroxidation and free radical damage. Hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) treatment adversely affected the electroretinograms (ERGs) of rats fed a diet deficient in both vitamin E and selenium (the basal or B diet) or a diet deficient in vitamin E alone (B + Se diet). After 4 weeks of HBO treatment (3.0 ATA of 100% oxygen, 1.5 hours per day, 5 day/week) rats fed the B diet deficient in vitamin E and selenium for 6 weeks showed decreased (p < 0.05) a-wave amplitudes, 85 ± 9 microvolts (μV), n = 11, compared with a-waves recorded (150 ± 10 μV, n = 21) for age matched rats fed an identical diet for 6 weeks but not treated with HBO. After 15 weeks of HBO treatment, rats fed the B + Se diet deficient in vitamin E alone showed decreased (p < 0.01) a-wave (61 ± 9 μV, n = 4) and b-wave (253 ± 23 μV, n = 4) amplitudes compared with a-wave (115 ± 7 μV, n = 4) and b-wave amplitudes (450 ± 35 μV, n = 4) for age matched rats fed the same diet but not treated with HBO. Decreased a- or b-wave amplitudes provide evidence of retinal damage. Rats fed a diet supplemented with vitamin E and selenium or vitamin E alone showed no decreases in either a- or b-wave amplitudes after 15 weeks of HBO treatment.