According to a new study, rodents and pigs share certain qualities with some of the aquatic organisms such as the ability to use their intestine for the process of respiration. This seems to be a unique body function which is found in mammals and it is been suggested by the scientists that, they can use this phenomenon to have a good medical assurance. This study was published in the journal med. Researchers demonstrated that the delivery of oxygen gas or oxygenated liquid through the rectum provides a vital rescue to mammals in times of respiratory failure. As said by Takanori Takebe of Tokyo Medical and Dental University and the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, the lead researcher of the study, the artificial respiratory support plays a critical role in the clinical treatment of respiratory failure due to serious illnesses such as pneumonia or acute respiratory distress syndrome. Although, side-effects should be carefully evaluated for ensuring human safety. This approach could offer a new paradigm to help seriously ill patients with respiratory failure in lungs or gills. For example, sea cucumbers, freshwater fish called loaches, and certain freshwater catfish use their entrails to breathe, but there has been much debate as to whether water mammals have similar abilities of breathing through their intestines.
The researchers plan to expand their preclinical studies and pursue regulatory steps to accelerate the path to clinical translation, with help from the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development in order to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
The artificial ventilation system can provide arterial oxygenation which will be sufficient to aid patients with high respiratory failures or breathing problems. As said by Takebe, “The recent pandemic is overwhelming the clinical need for ventilators and artificial lungs, resulting in a critical shortage of available devices, and endangering patients' lives worldwide.”
This technology can potentially provide life-saving oxygenation to the needy.
