Hydrogen Water Shows Limited Effect on Muscle Loss in Rats
- Authors
- Ryo Fujita, Yoshinori Tanaka, Yasuhiro Saihara, Mitsuya Yamakita, Daisuke Ando, Katsuhiro Koyama
- Journal
- Journal of Physiological Anthropology
- Year
- 2011
- DOI
- 10.2114/jpa2.30.195
- Study Type
- Rat
- Outcome
- Neutral
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- Japan
- Health Condition
- Muscle Atrophy
- Body System
- Musculoskeletal
TL;DR
Drinking hydrogen-saturated alkaline water did not significantly reduce muscle damage and oxidative stress in rats with muscle atrophy caused by reduced movement.
Key Finding
Hydrogen-saturated alkaline water showed only modest, non-significant protective effects against muscle atrophy and oxidative stress markers in immobilized rats, failing to substantially prevent disuse-induced muscle wasting.
Summary
Researchers studied whether hydrogen-enriched alkaline water could protect rat leg muscles from wasting away during a period of disuse (simulated by suspending the hind limbs). They measured markers of cellular damage (oxidative stress) and muscle weight loss. While the hydrogen water showed a slight trend toward reducing some damage markers and preserving muscle weight compared to regular water, the differences were very small and not statistically significant.
Practical Takeaway
This rat study suggests that hydrogen water may not effectively prevent muscle loss during periods of inactivity, at least under these experimental conditions. The protective effects observed were too small to be considered meaningful. Since this is an animal study with modest results, much more research—including human trials—would be needed before drawing any conclusions about hydrogen water's usefulness for muscle health.
Abstract
The objectives of this paper were to determine the level of oxidative stress in atrophied gastrocnemius, and to verify the effect of molecular hydrogen (H2) saturated alkaline electrolyzed water (HSW) on gastrocnemius atrophy by modifying the redox status, indicated by 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), malondialdehyde (MDA), and superoxide dismutase (SOD)-like activity. Female Wistar rats were divided into four groups: (1) the control (CONT); (2) the Hindlimb unloading (HU, for 3 weeks) given purified normal water (HU-NW); (3) the HU given alkaline electrolyzed reduced water (HU-AEW); and (4) the HU given HSW (HU-HSW). We showed that 8-OHdG, but not MDA, significantly increased by 149% and 145% in HU-NW and HU-AEW, respectively, when compared with CONT. In contrast, there was a trend toward suppression in 8-OHdG levels (increased by 95% compared with CONT) by treatment of HSW, though this effect was not prominent. Additionally, SOD-like activity significantly increased in both HU-NW (184%) and HU-AEW (199%) when compared with CONT. This result suggests the elevation of O2-· in the atrophied gastrocnemius. However, upregulation of SOD-like activity in the HU-HSW was increased by only 169% compared with CONT, though this difference is too small to detect statistical significance. HU led to 13% and 15% reduction of gastrocnemius wet weights in HU-NW and HU-AEW, respectively, compared with CONT. And the reduction of gastrocnemius wet weights in HU-HSW was attenuated by 7% compared with CONT. The gastrocnemius wet weights in the HU-HSW group were significantly greater than those in the HU-AEW, but not statistically significant with HU-NW. These results indicate that HU causes an increase in oxidative stress, but, in this experimental protocol, continuous consumption of HSW during HU does not demonstrate successful attenuation of oxidative stress and HU-mediated gastrocnemius atrophy.