Hydrogen Water Protects Eyes from Blue Light Damage in Rats
- Authors
- Xiao Wang, Yifan Sun, Changlin Luan, Shiqiao Yang, Kailei Wang, Xiaoran Zhang, Rui Hao, Wei Zhang
- Journal
- Photochemistry and Photobiology
- Year
- 2024
- DOI
- 10.1111/php.13952
- Study Type
- Rat
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- China
- Health Condition
- Blue Light Retinal Damage
- Body System
- Visual
TL;DR
Hydrogen-rich saline (HRS) treatment helps repair eye damage caused by blue light by speeding up the recovery of important light-sensitive cells in the retina.
Key Finding
Hydrogen-rich saline accelerated recovery of light-sensing retinal cells and melanopsin protein expression in rats with blue light-induced eye damage, with measurable improvements in retinal function within two weeks.
Summary
Researchers exposed rats to intense blue light to damage their retinas, then treated some with hydrogen-rich saline (a salt solution containing dissolved hydrogen). They found that blue light damaged special light-sensing nerve cells in the eye, but hydrogen-rich saline sped up the recovery of these cells over two weeks. The treatment increased levels of a protein called melanopsin and improved electrical signals in the damaged retina.
Practical Takeaway
This is an early-stage animal study showing hydrogen-rich saline may help protect against blue light damage to the eye. However, results in rats do not automatically translate to humans, and much more research would be needed before any therapeutic use. The study does not tell us whether hydrogen water (which people can actually consume) would have similar effects.
Abstract
Excessive exposure to blue light can cause retinal damage. Hydrogen-rich saline (HRS), one of the hydrogen therapies, has been demonstrated to be effective in eye photodamage, but the effect on the expression of melanopsin in intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs) is unknown. In this study, we used a rat model of light-induced retinal injury to observe the expression of melanopsin after HRS treatment and to determine the effect of HRS on retinal ganglion cell protection. Adult SD rats were exposed to blue light (48 h) and treated with HRS for 0, 3, 7, and 14 days. Real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and Western blotting (WB) were performed to find the expression of genes and proteins, respectively. The function of retinal ipRGCs was measured by pattern-evoked electroretinography (pERG). The number and morphological changes of melanopsin-positive ganglion cells in the retina were observed by immunofluorescence (IF). Acute blue light exposure caused a decrease in ipRGC function, decreased expression of melanopsin protein and the melanopsin-positive RGCs, and diminished immunoreactivity in dendrites. However, over time, melanopsin showed a tendency to self-recovery, with an increase in melanopsin protein expression and the number of melanopsin-positive RGCs, with incomplete recovery of function within two weeks. HRS treatment accelerated the recovery process, with a significant increase in melanopsin expression and the number of melanopsin-positive RGCs, and an improvement in the pERG waveform within two weeks.