Inhale, exhale … through the anus? Scientists are working on a way to oxygenate mammals other than through the respiratory tract. With promising concrete applications.
Being able to breathe underwater, or in any case, being able to be supplied with oxygen other than by the traditional respiratory tracts will it be possible one day? Scientists are working to solve this medical challenge. Indeed, mammals can a priori get oxygen naturally only through the lungs. The Sars-Cov-2 pandemic has also created catastrophic health situations where respirators were scarce to help people in respiratory distress to get oxygen. Japanese scientists may have the beginnings of a solution.
Breathing through the anus, the future of respiratory problems?
Indeed, some animals have the ability to obtain oxygen by passing oxygen through the intestine into the blood. This is the case for marine animals, which use their posterior to breathe in an emergency situation. It has a name: EVA, acronym for “enteric respiration via the anus”. However, this situation could be transposed to terrestrial mammals.
On the principle of drugs such as suppositories, one can consider administering oxygen through the rectum. Indeed, “the rectum has a mesh of fine blood vessels just below the surface of its wall, which means that drugs delivered through the anus are easily absorbed into the bloodstream”, explains the study’s lead author, Ryo Okabe. Scientists tested two methods to oxygenate mice, rats and pigs, in order to test this “promising idea”, in the words of Caleb Kelly of the prestigious Yale University School of Medicine in the United States, who takes the idea very seriously. First method: deliver oxygen in the form of gas. Second method, perform an enema rich in oxygen. The result: the oxygen delivered as both a gas and a liquid increased oxygenation, normalized the behavior of the animals and extended their lifespan. All this, without any harmful effects to declare on the intestinal bacteria. “Patients in respiratory distress could have their oxygen needs provided by this method while their disease is being treated”, said one of the study’s co-authors, Takanori Takebe. This work can be found in the journal Med.