Hydrogen Water Protects Against Smoking Damage to Cholesterol
- Authors
- Chuanlong Zong, Guohua Song, Shutong Yao, Shoudong Guo, Yang Yu, Nana Yang, Zheng Guo, Shu-Cun Qin
- Journal
- Lipids in Health and Disease
- Year
- 2015
- DOI
- 10.1186/s12944-015-0160-9
- Study Type
- Mouse
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- China
- Health Condition
- Dyslipidemia
- Body System
- Cardiovascular
TL;DR
Hydrogen treatment can help improve the negative effects of cigarette smoke on cholesterol levels and cholesterol removal processes in mice.
Key Finding
Hydrogen-saturated saline treatment reversed cigarette smoke-induced damage to cholesterol removal pathways in mice, improving HDL cholesterol levels by 31% and fecal cholesterol excretion by up to 89%.
Summary
This study examined how cigarette smoke damages the body's ability to remove excess cholesterol and how hydrogen-saturated saline (a salt solution containing dissolved hydrogen gas) might help. Researchers exposed mice to cigarette smoke and found it reduced beneficial HDL cholesterol by 22% and increased harmful LDL cholesterol by 21%. When they treated the mice with hydrogen-saturated saline, these harmful changes improved significantly, with HDL cholesterol increasing by 31% and cholesterol excretion improving by up to 89% compared to smoke-exposed mice.
Practical Takeaway
This mouse study provides early evidence that hydrogen may help counteract some of cigarette smoke's harmful effects on cholesterol metabolism. However, this is an animal study only, and it's unclear whether these results would apply to humans or whether hydrogen water (which contains much lower hydrogen concentrations than the saline used here) would have similar effects. More human research would be needed before drawing conclusions about hydrogen's usefulness for smokers or former smokers.
Abstract (excerpt)
Background Cigarette smoke (CS) exposure impaired plasma lipid profiles by modification of apolipoproteins. Hydrogen (H2) has been proved effective on reducing oxidative stress or improving HDL functionalities in animal models or metabolic syndrome volunteers. This study was undertaken to explore…