Hydrogen Water Improves Toxin Removal During Kidney Dialysis

Authors
Journal
Nephro-Urology Monthly
Year
DOI
10.5812/numonthly.26847
Study Type
Molecular Assay
Outcome
Positive
Peer Reviewed
Yes
Country
Japan
Health Condition
Chronic Kidney Disease
Body System
Renal

TL;DR

Adding high levels of dissolved hydrogen to dialysis fluid can help remove more of the harmful toxin indoxyl sulfate from the blood.

Key Finding

Dialysate enriched with dissolved hydrogen significantly increased the separation of indoxyl sulfate from albumin in laboratory testing, compared to conventional dialysate.

Summary

This laboratory study tested whether adding extra hydrogen to dialysis fluid (the cleaning solution used in kidney dialysis) could help remove a harmful waste product called indoxyl sulfate that sticks to proteins in the blood. Researchers found that dialysate with high dissolved hydrogen did cause more indoxyl sulfate to separate from albumin (a blood protein) compared to standard dialysate, suggesting this approach might improve how well dialysis removes certain toxins.

Practical Takeaway

This is an early laboratory study, not a human trial, so it cannot yet tell us whether hydrogen-enriched dialysate would actually improve outcomes in dialysis patients. The findings suggest a potential direction for future research, but much more testing—including studies in actual patients—would be needed before this approach could be considered for clinical use.

Abstract

Protein-bound toxins such as indoxyl sulfate (IS) are not efficiently removed by conventional hemodialysis (HD). To improve the removal of IS, we performed an in vitro study to evaluate the effects of high dissolved hydrogen on the dissociation of IS from albumin using simulated HD. Wasted dialysate from peritoneal dialysis was concentrated a hundred times using extracorporeal ultrafiltration method. Dialysate with high dissolved hydrogen was made by mixing concentrated dialysis solution and electrolyzed-reduced water. The amounts of free fractions of IS were determined by high performance liquid chromatography. IS was significantly dissociated from albumin using dialysate with high dissolved hydrogen compared with conventional dialysate (P < 0.05). Effective removal of IS is expected using a dialysate with high dissolved hydrogen.