Exercise Plus Hydrogen Water and Heart Protection in Rats
Early Aerobic Exercise Combined with Hydrogen-Rich Saline as Preconditioning Protects Myocardial Injury Induced by Acute Myocardial Infarction in Rats
Research hubs: Cardiovascular System
This research was done in animals. Results in animals often don't carry over to people.
- Evidence type
- Animal study (rat)
- Authors
- Rui Feng, Mengxin Cai, Xudan Wang, Juanjuan Zhang, Zhenjun Tian
- Journal
- Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology
- Year
- 2018
- PMID
- 30033489
- Study Type
- Rat
- Delivery
- Saline (Dissolved)
- Dose
- 1.6 ppm hydrogen-rich saline, 10 mL/kg weight daily for 3 weeks via intragastric administration
- H₂ concentration
- 1.6 ppm
- Duration
- 3 weeks
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Cited by
- 20 (OpenAlex, as of November 2026)
- Country
- China
TL;DR
Combining early aerobic exercise with hydrogen-rich saline water may provide better protection against heart damage from a heart attack.
Key Finding
In rats, combining 3 weeks of early aerobic exercise with hydrogen-rich saline pretreatment significantly reduced heart attack damage, improved heart function measurements, and increased protective antioxidant proteins compared to either treatment alone or no treatment.
Summary
Researchers tested whether combining early aerobic exercise with hydrogen-rich saline (a salt solution containing dissolved hydrogen) could protect rat hearts from damage caused by heart attacks. They gave rats either hydrogen-rich saline, exercise training, both treatments, or neither for 3 weeks, then induced a heart attack. Rats that received both treatments showed better heart function, smaller areas of damaged tissue, and higher levels of protective antioxidant molecules (substances that reduce cellular damage) compared to untreated rats.
Practical Takeaway
This is an animal study in rats, so results cannot be directly applied to humans yet. While the findings suggest that hydrogen-rich saline combined with exercise may have cardioprotective effects, human clinical trials would be needed to determine if similar benefits occur in people. The study provides early evidence that warrants further investigation, but should not be interpreted as a proven preventive strategy for heart disease in humans.
Abstract (excerpt)
It has been reported that hydrogen-rich saline (HRS) water reduces oxidative stress, and early aerobic exercise (eAE) acts an efficient exercise preconditioning (EP) against cardiac I/R injury. However, whether early aerobic exercise combined with hydrogen-rich saline (eAE-HRS) water can more…