Transdermal Carbon Dioxide Shows Promise in Treating Disease and Injury

The paper discusses the use of transdermal carbon dioxide and lists the studies that document positive outcomes from this therapy for fractures, blood flow disorders related to peripheral vascular disease, skin flaps for plastic surgery, Raynaud’s Disease, cancer, and exercise recovery.

Medical therapy through the skin is a well-described practice. Specifically, the transdermal (or transcutaneous) use of patches to deliver medicine for treating pain, nausea, heart failure, and dementia is commonplace. Because this approach permits the prolonged transfer of drugs into the body, the amount of the drug in the bloodstream is constant. Gas is an alternative to patches for transdermal therapy, but it is less common because it is difficult to transport and administer in a controlled fashion. The Dioxyfin canister solves that problem and  allows health care providers to offer a transdermal therapeutic option.

Carbon dioxide gas is the latest entry into the gas therapy market. Hyperbaric, or pressurized, oxygen is probably the best recognized gas even though carbon dioxide therapy has been around for more than 100 years. It has been identified as one of the most significant therapeutic components of popular natural bath springs. This option has been the focus of many studies, including those conducted in the natural baths themselves as well as those conducted in laboratories using baths with controlled concentrations of carbon dioxide.

Laboratory studies in animals and humans clearly demonstrate that the healing properties of carbon dioxide will increase blood flow to the tissue, the level of oxygen in the tissue, and the number of small blood vessels. It is also noteworthy that carbon dioxide gas is bacteriostatic, which means that bacteria will not grow or multiply in its presence. All of these features lead to many options for using carbon dioxide to treat diseases that involve poor blood circulation.

Studies of humans and animals partly immersed in water that contains carbon dioxide have shown that it has positive therapeutic effects, including:

  • Fewer fluctuations in blood pressure (a calming effect)16

  • Increased endurance while swimming1

  • An increase in oxygen, blood flow, and blood vessels in the tissue of limbs that have been deprived of oxygen5,15

Treatment that uses baths is somewhat limited because it is so cumbersome. Researchers have therefore looked at other ways to deliver transcutaneous carbon dioxide therapy, such as using the gas itself. For instance, carbon dioxide gas has been applied through chambers and plastic reservoirs that enclose the affected limb(s), the lower body, or the entire body of a human or animal.

  • A reduction in the symptoms of peripheral vascular disease, including lameness4,10

  • An increase in the oxygen, blood flow, and blood vessels in limbs that have been deprived of oxygen5

  • Enhanced endurance14

  • More rapid healing of fractures8

  • Suppressed metastasis of squamous cell carcinoma of the mouth13

  • Suppressed metastasis and the appropriate elimination of tumor cells3

  • An easing of the symptoms of Raynaud’s Disease11

  • Repaired skeletal muscle9

  • An increase in the formation of blood vessels in skin flaps for plastic surgery12

  • The stimulation of immune responses and raised endorphins7

  • An increase in the blood flow in the skin6

Given the many possibilities for the therapeutic use of carbon dioxide on large and small animals, there are also many opportunities for launching clinical studies of this therapy.

References

  1. Akamine T and Taguchi N. (1998). Effects of an artificially carbonated bath on athletic warm-up. Journal of Human Ergology, 27:22-29.

  2. Fabry R, Monnet P, Schmidt J, Lusson JR, Carpentier PH, Baguet JC, and Dubray C. (2009). Clinical and microcirculatory effects of transcutaneous CO2 therapy in intermittent claudication. Randomized double-blind clinical trial with a parallel design. Vasa, 38:213-224.

  3. Harada R, Kawamoto T, Ueha T, Minoda M, Toda M, Onishi Y, Fukase N, Hara H, Sakai Y, Miwa M, Kuroda R, Kurosaka M, and Akisue T. (2013). Reoxygenation using a novel CO2 therapy decreases the metastatic potential of osteosarcoma cells. Experimental Cell Research, 319:1988-1997.

  4. Hartmann BR, Bassenge E, Hartmann M, and Hartmann BR. (1997). Effects of serial percutaneous application of carbon dioxide in intermittent claudication: Results of a controlled rial. Angiology, 48:957-963.

  5. Irie H, Tatsumi T, Takamiya M, Zen K, Takahashi T, Azuma A, Tateishi K, Nomura T, Hayashi H, Nakajima N, Okigaki M, and Matsubara H. (2005). Carbon dioxide-rich water bathing enhances collateral blood flow in ischemic hind limb via mobilization of endothelial progenitor cells and activation of NO-cGMP system. Circulation, 111:1523-1529.

  6. Ito T, Moore JI, and Koss MC. (1989). Topical application of CO2 increases skin blood flow. The Journal of investigative dermatology, 93:259-262.

  7. Kallistratos E, Toliopoulos I, Fragkoraptis D, Gerou S, and Fragkoraptis E. (2009). The impact of CO2 dry baths on subpopulations of NK and NK-T lymphocytes, cytotoxic activity, level of inflammation and pain management in elderly with musculoskeletal syndromes - a pilot study. Experimental Medicine, 1:19.

  8. Koga T, Niikura T, Lee SY, Okumachi E, Ueha T, Iwakura T, Sakai Y, Miwa M, Kuroda R, and Kurosaka M. (2014). Topical cutaneous CO2 application by means of a novel hydrogel accelerates fracture repair in rats. The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, American Volume, 96:2077-2084.

  9. Oe K, Ueha T, Sakai Y, Niikura T, Lee SY, Koh A, Hasegawa T, Tanaka M, Miwa M, and Kurosaka M. (2011). The effect of transcutaneous application of carbon dioxide (CO 2) on skeletal muscle. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 407:148-152.

  10. Savin E, Bailliart O, Bonnin P, Bedu M, Cheynel J, Coudert J, and Martineaud J. (1995). Vasomotor effects of transcutaneous CO2 in stage II peripheral occlusive arterial disease. Angiology, 46:785-791.

  11. Schmidt J, Monnet P, Normand B, and Fabry R. (2005). Microcirculatory and clinical effects of serial percutaneous application of carbon dioxide in primary and secondary Raynaud’s phenomenon. Vasa, 34:93-100.

  12. Sönmez A, Yaman M, Yalçın Ö, Ersoy B, Serin M, and Sav A. (2009). Carbon dioxide therapy increases capillary formation on random pedicled skin flaps in the rat. Journal of Plastic, Reconstructive & Aesthetic Surgery, 62:e237.

  13. Takeda D, Hasegawa T, Ueha T, Imai Y, Sakakibara A, Minoda M, Kawamoto T, Minamikawa T, Shibuya Y, Akisue T, Sakai Y, Kurosaka M, and Komori T. (2014). Transcutaneous carbon dioxide induces mitochondrial apoptosis and suppresses metastasis of oral squamous cell carcinoma in vivo. PlOS ONE, 9:e100530.

  14. Ueha T, Oe K, Miwa M, Hasegawa T, Koh A, Nishimoto H, Lee S, Niikura T, Kurosaka M, Kuroda R, and Sakai Y. (2017). Increase in carbon dioxide accelerates the performance of endurance exercise in rats. The Journal of Physiological Sciences, 68(5). doi: 10.1007/s12576-017-0548-6.

  15. Xu Y, Elimban V, and Dhalla NS. (2017). Carbon Dioxide Water-Bath Treatment Augments Peripheral Blood Flow Through the Development of Angiogenesis. Canadian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology, 95(8):938-944. doi: 10.1139/cjpp-2017-0125.

  16. Yamamoto N and Hashimoto M. (2007). Immersion in CO2-rich water containing NaCl diminishes blood pressure fluctuation in anesthetized rats. International Journal of Biometerology, 52:109-116.

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