Abstract

This research study was conducted to elucidate the effect of rehabilitation in combination with hyperbaric oxygen treatment on the secretion of neurotrophic factors and oxidative stress in recovery phase of cerebral infarction patients. A total of 120 cerebral infarction patients undergoing the treatment in recovery phase between June 2017 and May 2019 were randomized into the control group and the experiment group, with 60 patients in each group. In the control group, patients took the regular rehabilitation, while those in the experiment group performed the rehabilitation in combination with hyperbaric oxygen treatment. At admission (T₀) and after 14 d of treatment (T₁), we detected the differences of the level’s neurotrophic factors, neurotransmitters and indicators of oxidative stress by comparison. At T₀, comparison of the neurotrophic factors, neurotransmitters and indicators of oxidative stress showed no significant differences between two groups. At T₁, patients in the experiment group experienced sharp decreases in myelin basic protein and neuron specific enolase levels and increase in nerve growth factor as compared with their counterparts in the control group; in serum, the level of glutamic acid in the experiment group was lower than that in the control group, while γ-aminobutyric acid showed the totally opposite change; in terms of the indicators of oxidative stress, the levels of reactive oxygen species and lipid hydrogen peroxide were lowered in the experiment group, with increases in the levels of catalase and superoxide dismutase when comparing with the control group. For treatment of cerebral infarction patients in recovery phase, rehabilitation in combination with hyperbaric oxygen treatment can optimize the nerve function while inhibit the general oxidative stress responses.