The effect of balneotherapy on the oxidative system and changes in anxiety behavior, enhanced by low doses of radon

Abstract

Purpose

The aim of our research was to study the effect of radon hormesis balneotherapy using natural thermal waters of Tskaltubo spring, practically, its effect on oxidant and antioxidant systems and anxiety reactions in rats. Radon is a natural gas with radioactive properties, which can have a hermetic effect when used in small doses. Radon was used to activate antioxidant mechanisms in rats, which resulted an anxiolytic effect and positively enhanced the effect of balneotherapy.

Materials and methods

To study the effect of radon in balneotherapy, groups of experimental animals (rats) were exposed to three different treatments. The radon-containing waters of Tskaltubo spring were inhaled in one group and 5 after taking the water in another group. Saline was used for inhalation in animals of the saline group. In animals of the control and sham control groups, inhalation was not used. To assess the anxiolytic effect of radon inhalation, the anxiety was induced and behavioral tests were performed (the open field and the elevated plus-maze test) after 24 h and 5 days of inhalation procedures.

Results

The anxiety test results showed that exposure to low doses of radon led to a decrease in the level of anxiety in rats. The data show that the total distance traveled by rats in the open field test after inhalation of radon was significantly greater than that by animals in the sham control and control groups. During the open field and elevated plus-maze tests, rats that had inhaled radon spent more time in the central part of the open field and on the open arms of the maze than did the other groups of rats. In the group of rats that had not inhaled radon, an increase in anxiety was observed. The basis of this reaction was an increase in the glutathione concentration.

Conclusion

Based on our research, it can be concluded that the inhalation of small doses of radon, associated with treatments of waters from the Tskaltubo spring, activated the antioxidant systems of the body and enhanced the positive effect of balneotherapy. Clinically, this is expressed as a decrease in anxiety. Inhalation of small doses of radon activated antioxidant processes in the brain, causing an increase in glutathione/glutathione disulfide ratio in the brain.

Keywords:

• Radiation hormesis
• antioxidants
• anxiolytic
• anxiety
• mineral water
• balneotherapy

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Khatuna Dondoladze

Khatuna Dondoladze has been working as a researcher in the Radiobiology Department of the Ivane Beritashvili Experimental Biomedicine Center since 2016. She studies the effect of different types of radiation on cognitive processes: memory, attention and concentration. She is interested in the action of radiation stress hormesis and the work of the body's antioxidant systems.

Marina Nikolaishvili

Marina Nikolaishvili is a biochemist by profession, a professor with many years of experience in studying the effects of various forms of radiation on the body, namely cellular mechanisms. She is currently the Head of the Radiobiology Department of the Ivane Beritashvili Experimental Biomedicine Center.

David Zurabashvili

David Zurabashvili is a Professor at the Department of Psychiatry at Tbilisi State University. He participated in the study of cognitive processes, in the development of models for extrapolation of research results to humans.