Once upon a chilly Swedish winter, an adventurous cardiologist found himself with an unusual patient. With that visit, came a study into the way animals hibernate and how it might help humans. And a bit more knowledge on how nature works its magic on everything.

All of that led Dr. Ole Frøbert to find himself face-to-face with an unusual patient: a hibernating brown bear. With snowmobiling and snowshoeing as his modes of transport, he delved into the mystery of how these bears survive their months-long snooze without falling prey to blood clots, bed sores, or other winter-related ailments.

“It’s not easy to puncture a bear vein,” Frøbert chuckled, describing the challenges of drawing blood from these furry giants in freezing temperatures. Undeterred, he, along with a team of researchers including Dr. Manuela Thienel from Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, embarked on a quest to unravel the secrets hidden in the blood of hibernating bears.

Cardiologist Peter Godsk Jørgensen conducts a heart ultrasound on a sedated brown bear. Photo by Ole Frøbert

The research extended beyond the medical realm, attracting attention from space agencies and militaries keen on applying hibernation insights to space travel and soldier care.

You can learn really a lot from nature,” Thienel said. “Far more than we think.”

The brown bear, a creature serious about its sleep, can hibernate for up to eight months, emerging from its den with vitality, the doctor said. Unlike the potential consequences for a person attempting such a feat, bears suffer no muscle atrophy, weakened bones, or bed sores. Hibernation for bears is not a mere slumber; it’s an extreme state of energy conservation, with heart rates dropping below 10 beats per minute.

Dr. Frøbert’s primary focus was on bear blood, specifically a protein called HSP47 found in less abundance during the winter months. This protein, crucial for blood clotting, sparked intrigue. The team’s discovery could pave the way for potential breakthroughs in cardiovascular treatments for humans.

To validate their findings, the researchers turned to individuals with spinal cord injuries, discovering parallels in decreased HSP47 levels. Pigs and participants in bed rest studies mirrored these results. The implications reached beyond bears, offering insights into human health.

But bears weren’t the only animals contributing to this scientific saga. The 13-lined ground squirrel, a tiny fuzzball curled up in hibernation, caught the attention of Dr. Ashley Zehnder. Her research unveiled genes activated in the squirrel’s heart tissue during hibernation, suggesting a mechanism for repairing the heart after near-freezing conditions.

The hibernating bear’s claw is pictured here. hoto by Ole Frøbert

This prompted the testing of a compound to mimic the response in humans, potentially aiding heart function recovery.

There definitely are more and more people taking a critical look at how we could use data from all kinds of different species to improve human health,” Zehnder said.

The shift from traditional lab rodents to diverse species marked a turning point in medical research. Sequencing genomes and data sharing propelled scientists to explore beyond the confines of familiar models. Dr. Hannah Carey, studying hibernating ground squirrels, emphasized the importance of diverse ecosystems and gut microbes in maintaining muscle, hinting at potential applications for probiotic supplements.

The excitement extended to space exploration, with NASA funding hibernation research to investigate the possibility of putting space travelers into a hibernation-like state for long missions. Hibernators’ resistance to radiation added another layer of intrigue to space agencies’ endeavors.

Despite initial skepticism, Dr. Frøbert secured funding from unexpected sources like NASA and the German Aerospace Center. Now, his team is on the quest for a chemical to develop a new blood-thinning medicine with fewer side effects, a potential game-changer in the medical field. “We need to have some space for these crazy projects,” Frøbert said. Watch below for a look at why bears hibernate and what it does for them in the process.

Source: Washington Post