Hydrogen Therapy Protects Lungs from High-Fat Diet Damage in Mice
Effects of high-fat diet on the epithelial-mesenchymal transition of respiratory tract through the glyoxylic acid cycle of pulmonary microbes and the intervention of saturated hydrogen
Research hubs: Respiratory System
This research was done in animals. Results in animals often don't carry over to people.
- Evidence type
- Animal study (mouse)
- Authors
- Xiangjie Qiu, Ousman Bajinka, Lili Wang, Guojun Wu, Yurong Tan
- Journal
- Research Square
- Year
- 2020
- Study Type
- Mouse
- Participants
- 80
- Delivery
- Saline (Dissolved)
- Duration
- 4 weeks
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Cited by
- 3 (OpenAlex, as of November 2026)
- Country
- China
TL;DR
Eating a high-fat diet may worsen lung health by changing lung bacteria and promoting inflammation, but these effects can be partly reduced by treating with saturated hydrogen.
Key Finding
In mice, a high-fat diet triggered harmful changes in lung tissue and bacterial composition associated with asthma, but treatment with saturated hydrogen partially reversed these changes.
Summary
Researchers fed mice a high-fat diet and observed changes in their lung bacteria and lung tissue that resembled early stages of asthma. They found that certain harmful bacteria increased in the lungs, and lung cells began to change in ways associated with respiratory disease. When the mice were given saturated hydrogen (hydrogen dissolved in saline), these harmful changes were partially reduced, suggesting hydrogen may help protect against diet-related lung damage.
Practical Takeaway
This is an early-stage mouse study suggesting hydrogen may help counteract some lung damage from high-fat diets by affecting harmful bacteria. However, this is far from human evidence—the findings would need to be tested in people before any health recommendations could be made. The study does not show whether hydrogen water (which contains much lower hydrogen concentrations than the saturated hydrogen used here) would have similar effects.
Abstract (excerpt)
Abstract Background High fat diet is extensively studied to be associated with trending metabolic diseases. In addition to type 2 diabetes and hypertension, high fat diet is strongly associated with asthma and other respiratory diseases among children however, the pathogenicity regarding these…