Hydrogen Water Reduces Fatty Liver Disease in High-Methionine Diet Study
- Authors
- Wen-Bin Chu, Tian-Qi Ding, Bo Wen, Jun-Yu Lu, Rong Fan, Xue-Wei Chen
- Journal
- Chinese Journal of Applied Physiology
- Year
- 2023
- DOI
- 10.12047/j.cjap.6382.2022.143
- Study Type
- Rat
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- China
- Health Condition
- Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
- Body System
- Hepatic
TL;DR
Drinking hydrogen-rich water reduced blood homocysteine levels and improved liver health in rats with a condition that can lead to fatty liver disease.
Key Finding
Hydrogen-rich water significantly reduced blood homocysteine levels and liver damage in rats with diet-induced high homocysteine and fatty liver disease.
Summary
Researchers fed rats a diet high in methionine (an amino acid) to create high blood homocysteine levels and fatty liver disease. They then gave some of these rats hydrogen-rich water to drink for 6 weeks. Compared to rats that didn't receive hydrogen water, those that did had lower homocysteine levels in their blood, less liver damage, and improved liver function. The hydrogen appeared to work by boosting the rat's natural ability to break down homocysteine.
Practical Takeaway
This is an early-stage animal study showing hydrogen water may help with homocysteine-related liver problems, but results from rats do not automatically apply to humans. Much more research, including human trials, would be needed before hydrogen water could be recommended as a treatment for fatty liver disease or high homocysteine in people.
Abstract
Objective: To investigate the alleviating effect of hydrogen (H2) on homocysteine (Hcy) levels and non alcoholic fatty liver in rats with hyperhomocysteinemia (HHcy). Methods: After one week of adaptive feeding, Wistar rats were randomly divided into three groups: the general diet group (CHOW), the high methionine group (HMD), and the high methionine plus hydrogen rich water group (HMD+HRW), with 8 rats in each group. The CHOW group was fed with AIN-93G feed, while the HMD and HMD+HRW groups were fed with AIN-93G+2% methionine feed to construct an HHcy model. The HMD+HRW group was also gavaged with hydrogen rich water (3 ml/animal, twice a day, with a hydrogen concentration of 0.8 mmol/L), and body weight data were recorded. After 6 weeks of feeding, the plasma and liver samples were processed and collected. The plasma homocysteine (Hcy) and lipid contents of each group were measured, and the histological morphology of the liver was observed. The activities of key enzymes in the Hcy metabolism pathway and mRNA expression were detected in the liver. Results: Compared with the CHOW group rats, the Hcy level in the blood of HMD rats was significantly increased significantly (P＜0.05). Pathological tissue sections showed liver enlargement, injury, and fatty liver in the rats; Compared with the HMD group rats, the HMD+HRW group rats showed a significant decrease in Hcy in the blood, reduced liver damage, and increased Hcy metabolism key enzyme activity and mRNA expression in the liver, with statistical differences (P＜0.05). Conclusion: Hydrogen has a significant improvement effect on liver injury induced by HMD diet in HHcy rats, possibly by enhancing the three metabolic pathways of Hcy to reduce excessive Hcy in the body, thereby improving liver metabolic function and symptoms of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.