Oct 21, 2025 12:05:00

Research into 'butt breathing' by a Japanese researcher who won the 2024 Ig Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is nearing practical application

It has been revealed that research into the ability of many mammals to breathe through their anus, which has been running since 1991 as a parody of the Nobel Prize and has been awarded

the Ig Nobel Prize for 'research that made people laugh and think,' is quietly approaching practical application.

Safety and tolerability of intrarectal perfluorodecalin for enteral ventilation in a first-in-human trial: Med
https://www.cell.com/med/abstract/S2666-6340(25)00314-9

IgNobel 'Butt Breathing' idea from 2024 moves closer to real treatment
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-10-ignobel-butt-idea-closer-real.html

At the 34th Ig Nobel Prize Award Ceremony held in September 2024, Takanori Takebe, a professor at Tokyo Medical and Dental University and Osaka University, and his colleagues were awarded the Prize in Physiology or Physiology for their research on 'the discovery that many mammals can breathe through their anus .'

This research, inspired by the loach's ability to breathe through its intestines, was conducted as part of a research project to find treatments for respiratory diseases caused by COVID-19. The researchers demonstrated in mice, rats, and pigs that mammals can also breathe through liquids in low-oxygen environments such as underwater. The research envisions a process similar to an enema, in which super-oxygenated liquid is used to absorb oxygen from the colon and deliver vital oxygen to the bloodstream. This process is called 'enteral ventilation.'

Summary of all categories of the 34th Ig Nobel Prize awarded to unique and interesting research, Japanese people have won for 18 consecutive years and 30th time - GIGAZINE

This research was awarded an Ig Nobel Prize for its extraordinary idea, but in reality, breathing by delivering oxygen through the rectum could help people whose airways are blocked by injury or inflammation, or whose lung function is severely limited by infection or other complications.

Professor Takebe and his colleagues conducted the first human clinical trial to evaluate the practicality of intestinal ventilation, and the results were published in the medical journal Med.

To verify the safety and tolerability of intestinal ventilation, 27 healthy Japanese men were administered a rectal enema of perfluorocarbon , a highly soluble oxygen-carrying liquid. Because the purpose of this experiment was solely to verify the safety and tolerability of intestinal ventilation, the perfluorocarbon used in the experiment did not contain oxygen. The study investigated whether rectal perfluorocarbon enema was safe and how much perfluorocarbon the subjects could tolerate. The subjects were asked to tolerate the perfluorocarbon enema for 60 minutes.

The amount of perfluorocarbon injected varied from 25ml to 1500ml for each subject.

The results of the experiment showed that 20 out of 27 subjects were able to maintain perfluorocarbon-free status for 60 minutes. Some subjects reported abdominal bloating and discomfort, but no serious adverse events were reported. However, this study did not provide data on the extent to which intestinal ventilation can improve blood oxygen levels.

Professor Takebe said of the results of the experiment, 'This is the first data in humans, and the results only indicate the safety of the procedure, not its effectiveness. However, now that tolerance has been established, the next step is to evaluate how effective this process is in delivering oxygen to the bloodstream.'

The next step in the research is to repeat the evaluation using oxygenated liquid to determine how much oxygenated liquid is needed to improve blood oxygen levels and how long the oxygenated liquid needs to be retained in the intestine. Professor Takebe says he would eventually like to apply enteral ventilation to neonatal care as well.