Abstract:Objective To explore the effects of hyperbaric oxygen therapy on cognitive function and expression of nerve growth factor mRNA (NGF mRNA) in brain tissue of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) rats. Methods Totally 48 healthy adult SD rats were randomly divided into two groups: blank control group (n = 12) and T2DM model group (n = 36). After 4 weeks of a high -sugar high-fat diet, the rats in T2DM model group were intraperitoneally injected with streptozotocin (35mg/kg) only once. Three days later, the random blood glucose (RBG) was measured. If the RBG was more than 16.7mmol/L, we think those rats were the type 2 diabetic rats. Then those rats were randomly divided into four groups by using the random number table method: intervention group A (n = 6), non-intervention group B (n = 12), hyperbaric oxygen therapy group A (n = 6) and hyperbaric oxygen therapy group B (n = 12). 10 days after the injection, the Morris water maze was used to test the cognitive function of non-intervention A group and hyperbaric oxygen treatment group A. 6 rats were randomly selected from blank control group, non-intervention B group and hyperbaric oxygen treatment group B, and their brain were used for the NGF mRNA test. 15 days after the injection, rats in hyperbaric oxygen group A and B were given hyperbaric oxygen intervention (1 times /d). 20 days after treatment, the rats in each group were tested for their cognitive function and NGF mRNA. Results Compared with non-intervention group A, the latency period of escape in hyperbaric oxygen group A was significantly shortened (P < 0.05) and the number of times the rats traversed the virtual platform was significantly increased (P < 0.05). Compared with non-intervention group B, the expression level of NGF mRNA in brain tissue of hyperbaric oxygen treatment group B was increased (P < 0.05). Conclusions Hyperbaric oxygen therapy can significantly improve the cognitive function of T2DM rats and improve the expression level of NGF mRNA in brain tissue. The results suggest that hyperbaric oxygen therapy can improve the cognitive function in early T2DM patients effectively, and the mechanism may be related to the effect of hyperbaric oxygen on NGF mRNA expression in brain tissue.