Hydrogen Water Protects Liver from Toxic Damage in Rats
- Authors
- Hong-Lei Hu, Jian Gao, Wen-Jun Guo, Feng-Hua Zhou, Hong-Yan Liu, Chang-Chun Su
- Journal
- Acta Physiologica Sinica
- Year
- 2019
- Study Type
- Rat
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- China
- Health Condition
- Acute Liver Injury
- Body System
- Hepatic
TL;DR
Drinking hydrogen-enriched water appears to reduce liver damage caused by a toxin in rats.
Key Finding
In rats with aflatoxin B1-induced liver injury, hydrogen-enriched water treatment reduced liver damage markers, improved liver function tests, and decreased oxidative stress in liver tissue.
Summary
Researchers gave rats a toxic substance called aflatoxin B1 to damage their livers, then treated some rats with hydrogen-enriched water. Compared to untreated rats, those receiving hydrogen-enriched water showed improved liver function, less tissue damage, reduced harmful molecules called oxidative stress markers, and changes in cellular signaling pathways that suggested protection against the toxin.
Practical Takeaway
This is an early-stage animal study showing hydrogen-enriched water may have protective effects against a specific type of liver toxin. However, this was only tested in rats, not humans, and the study does not tell us whether these findings would apply to accidental aflatoxin exposure or other liver conditions in people. More research, including human studies, would be needed before drawing any conclusions about practical health benefits.
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate the anti-injury effect and protective mechanism of hydrogen-enriched water in a rat model of acute liver injury induced by aflatoxin B1 (AFB1). Healthy male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into control group, model group (AFB1 group) and hydrogen-enriched water treatment group (AFB1+H2 group). The rat model of acute liver injury induced by AFB1 was established by single intragastric administration of AFB1 (2.0 mg/kg), and then the rats were treated with hydrogen-enriched water intragastrically. HE staining was used to observe the pathological changes of liver tissue. Blood samples were taken from vena cava to measure serum liver function indexes. Live tissue was sampled to detect malondialdehyde (MDA) and reduced glutathione (GSH) contents. Western blot was used to detect phosphorylation levels of MAPK signaling pathway proteins (ERK, JNK and p38 MAPK). The results showed that, compared with the AFB1 group, the AFB1+H2 group exhibited increased body weights, alleviated acute liver injury, decreased activities of serum glutamic-pyruvic transaminase and glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase, as well as total bilirubin level in the serum. Meanwhile, hydrogen-enriched water decreased MDA content and increased GSH content in liver tissue. AFB1-increased phosphorylation levels of ERK, JNK and p38 MAPK in liver tissue were down-regulated significantly by hydrogen-enriched water treatment. These results suggest that hydrogen-enriched water can alleviate liver injury induced by AFB1, and its mechanism may be related to the reduction of oxidative stress and the inhibition of MAPK signal transduction pathway activation.