Hydrogen Supplement Protects Liver in Elderly Rats with Fatty Liver Disease
- Authors
- Kuai Ma, Xin Hu, Neiki Nambu, Daisuke Ueda, Naotsugu Ichimaru, Masayuki Fujino, Xiao-Kang Li
- Journal
- Nature Scientific Reports
- Year
- 2023
- DOI
- 10.1038/s41598-023-38856-6
- Study Type
- Rat
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- Japan
- Health Condition
- Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH)
- Body System
- Hepatic
TL;DR
A special form of hydrogen carried by coral calcium, known as G2-SUISO, was found to protect the livers of elderly rats from a type of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
Key Finding
In elderly rats with fatty liver disease, hydrogen treatment (G2-SUISO) reduced liver inflammation, decreased liver enzymes in the blood, and suppressed cell death markers compared to untreated controls.
Summary
Researchers tested a form of hydrogen called G2-SUISO (hydrogen carried by coral calcium) in elderly rats with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NASH), a condition where fat builds up in the liver without alcohol use. The hydrogen treatment reduced liver damage, decreased markers of inflammation and cell death, and lowered the amount of fat stored in liver cells compared to untreated rats.
Practical Takeaway
This early animal study suggests hydrogen may have protective effects against fatty liver disease, but it was conducted only in elderly rats over a short period. Much more research, including human trials, would be needed before drawing any conclusions about whether hydrogen water might help people with liver disease.
Abstract
Hydrogen has been reported to act as an antioxidant, anti-apoptosis and anti-inflammatory agent. Coral calcium carried hydrogen (G2-SUISO) is a safer and more convenient form of hydrogen agent than others. The mechanism underlying the hepatoprotective effects of G2-SUISO using an elderly non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) rat model was investigated. Two days after fasting, six-month-old elderly male F344/NSlc rats were given a choline deficient high carbohydrate fat-free (CDHCFF) diet from day 0 to day 3 as CDHCFF control group, and then switched to a normal diet from days 4 to 7 with or without 300 mg/kg G2-SUISO. Rats in each group were finally being sacrificed on day 3 or day 7. In the CDHCFF diet group, G2-SUISO decreased the liver weight-to-body weight ratio, the serum AST, ALT, total cholesterol levels, inflammatory infiltration, pro-inflammatory cytokine expression and lipid droplets with inhibiting lipogenic pathways by reducing sterol regulatory element-binding protein-1c, acetyl-CoA carboxylase and fatty acid synthase gene expression compared with the CDHCFF diet alone. G2-SUISO had beneficial effects of anti-apoptosis as well the down-regulation of pro-apoptotic molecules including NF-κB, caspase-3, caspase-9 and Bax. These findings suggest that G2-SUISO treatment exerts a significant hepatoprotective effect against steatosis, inflammation and apoptosis in elderly NASH rats.