Articles

Acute oxidative stress induced by ischemia-reperfusion or inflammation causes serious damage to tissues, and persistent oxidative stress is accepted as one of the causes of many common diseases including cancer. We show here that hydrogen (H2) has potential as an antioxidant in preventive and therapeutic applications. We induced acute oxidative stress in cultured cells by three independent methods. H2 selectively reduced the hydroxyl radical, the most cytotoxic of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and effectively protected cells; however, H2 did not react with other ROS, which possess physiological roles. We used an acute rat model in which oxidative stress damage was induced in the brain by focal ischemia and reperfusion. The inhalation of H2 gas markedly suppressed brain injury by buffering the effects of oxidative stress. Thus H2 can be used as an effective antioxidant therapy; owing to its ability to rapidly diffuse across membranes, it can reach and react with cytotoxic ROS and thus protect against oxidative damage.

Hydrogen gas is a bioactive molecule that has a diversity of effects, including anti-apoptotic, anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative properties; these overlap with the process of neuroprogression in major psychiatric disorders. Specifically, both bipolar disorder and schizophrenia are associated with increased oxidative and inflammatory stress. Moreover, lithium which is commonly administered for treating bipolar disorder has effects on oxidative stress and apoptotic pathways, as do valproate and some atypical antipsychotics for treating schizophrenia. Molecular hydrogen has been studied pre-clinically in animal models for the treatment of some medical conditions including hypoxia and neurodegenerative disorders, and there are intriguing clinical findings in neurological disorders including Parkinson’s disease. Therefore, it is hypothesized that administration of hydrogen molecule may have potential as a novel therapy for bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and other concurrent disorders characterized by oxidative, inflammatory and apoptotic dysregulation.

Cardinal and colleagues describe the use of molecular hydrogen, the most abundant molecule in the universe, as a treatment for chronic allograft nephropathy (CAN) in a rat model of kidney transplantation. They demonstrate that the addition of hydrogen to the drinking water results in a decrease in the severity of CAN and increased graft survival, and they provide evidence that the mechanism of action could be due to a reduction in reactive oxygen species.

The desire to have healthy, elastic, wrinkle-free, and young looking skin dates back to primeval times. One of the ways (which is still used today) to try and accomplish this is the ancient practice of bathing in springs and mineral waters.However, unlike most conventional practices of lotions, creams, oils, powders and other cosmetics that may not help and/or even have negative side effects,3 bathing in specific waters that have reductive characteristics seems to have great therapeutic application.One study tested a mineral water with reductive characteristics (most likely due to dissolved molecular hydrogen) and a prepared water containing molecular hydrogen. The results revealed that bathing in both of these waters decreased the oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) of human skin. This is an important observation because healthy skin has reductive characteristics, and the ORP of the skin increases by oxidative damage (from sun exposure) and also by aging (as measured by lipid-peroxide levels). This relationship between redox potentials of the skin and aging has been investigated in more detail and shows that reductive waters lower the oxidation of the skin. Bathing in hydrogen water not only reduced the ORP of skin, but also improved its elasticity. Moreover, treating bleached hair with this water gave an improvement in fluency and gloss.

Recent extensive studies have revealed that molecular hydrogen (H2) has great potential for improving oxidative stress-related diseases by inhaling H2 gas, injecting saline with dissolved H2, or drinking water with dissolved H2 (H2-water); however, little is known about the dynamic movement of H2 in a body. First, we show that hepatic glycogen accumulates H2 after oral administration of H2-water, explaining why consumption of even a small amount of H2 over a short span time efficiently improves various disease models. This finding was supported by an in vitro experiment in which glycogen solution maintained H2. Next, we examined the benefit of ad libitum drinking H2-water to type 2 diabetes using db/db obesity model mice lacking the functional leptin receptor. Drinking H2-water reduced hepatic oxidative stress, and significantly alleviated fatty liver in db/db mice as well as high fat-diet-induced fatty liver in wild-type mice. Long-term drinking H2-water significantly controlled fat and body weights, despite no increase in consumption of diet and water. Moreover, drinking H2-water decreased levels of plasma glucose, insulin, and triglyceride, the effect of which on hyperglycemia was similar to diet restriction. To examine how drinking H2-water improves obesity and metabolic parameters at the molecular level, we examined gene-expression profiles, and found enhanced expression of a hepatic hormone, fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21), which functions to enhance fatty acid and glucose expenditure. Indeed, H2 stimulated energy metabolism as measured by oxygen consumption. The present results suggest the potential benefit of H2 in improving obesity, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome.

Since December 2019, multiple cases of novel coronavirus pneumonia (NCP) have been identified in Wuhan, Hubei. With the spread of the epidemic, such cases have also been found in other parts of China and other countries. As an acute respiratory infectious disease, NCP has been included in Class B infectious diseases prescribed in the Law of the People's Republic of China on Prevention and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, and managed as an infectious disease of Class A. By taking a series of preventive control and medical treatment measures, the rise of the epidemic situation in China has been contained to a certain extent, and the epidemic situation has eased in most provinces, but the incidence abroad is on the rise. With increased understanding of the clinical manifestations and pathology of the disease, and the accumulation of experience in diagnosis and treatment, in order to further strengthen the early diagnosis and early treatment of the disease, improve the cure rate, reduce the mortality rate, avoid nosocomial infection as much as possible and pay attention to the spread caused by the imported cases from overseas, we revised the Diagnosis and Treatment Protocol for Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia (Trial Version 6) to Diagnosis and Treatment Protocol for Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia (Trial Version 7).

Although ionizing radiation (radiation) is commonly used for medical diagnosis and cancer treatment, radiation-induced damages cannot be avoided. Such damages can be classified into direct and indirect damages, caused by the direct absorption of radiation energy into DNA and by free radicals, such as hydroxyl radicals (•OH), generated in the process of water radiolysis. More specifically, radiation damage concerns not only direct damages to DNA, but also secondary damages to non-DNA targets, because low-dose radiation damage is mainly caused by these indirect effects. Molecular hydrogen (H2) has the potential to be a radioprotective agent because it can selectively scavenge •OH, a reactive oxygen species with strong oxidizing power. Animal experiments and clinical trials have reported that H2 exhibits a highly safe radioprotective effect. This paper reviews previously reported radioprotective effects of H2 and discusses the mechanisms of H2, not only as an antioxidant, but also in intracellular responses including anti-inflammation, anti-apoptosis, and the regulation of gene expression. In doing so, we demonstrate the prospects of H2 as a novel and clinically applicable radioprotective agent.

Clinical research for ‘hydrogen inhalation therapy’ in more than 10 hospitals across Japan has proved it can help patients who have suffered from cardiac arrests.