Hydrogen Gas Improves Survival in Severe Infection by 60% in Mice Study
Effects of hydrogen inhalation on serum pro-inflammatory factors and intestinal injury in mice with severe sepsis
Research hubs: Immune System
- Evidence type
- Animal study (mouse)
- Authors
- Hongtao Zhang, Yonghao Yu, Xiaoye Ma, Tao Yang, Nan Hu, Guo-Lin Wang
- Journal
- Chinese Critical Care Medicine
- Year
- 2015
- DOI
- 10.3760/cma.j.issn.2095-4352.2015.06.016
- Study Type
- Mouse
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- China
- Health Condition
- Severe Sepsis
- Body System
- Immune System
This research was done in animals. Results in animals often don't carry over to people.
TL;DR
Breathing in hydrogen gas significantly improved survival and reduced inflammation and intestinal damage in mice with severe sepsis.
Key Finding
Hydrogen inhalation increased the 7-day survival rate of severely septic mice from 0% to 60% and reduced key inflammatory markers in the bloodstream.
Summary
Researchers gave mice with severe sepsis (a life-threatening infection) hydrogen gas to breathe and compared them to untreated septic mice. Mice that received hydrogen inhalation had a 60% survival rate after 7 days, while untreated septic mice did not survive. The hydrogen treatment reduced inflammatory molecules (chemical messengers that cause swelling and damage) in the blood and decreased damage to the intestines.
Practical Takeaway
This is an early-stage animal study showing hydrogen gas may help reduce inflammation and intestinal damage in severe sepsis. However, these results are from mice only and have not been tested in humans, so it is far too early to draw conclusions about hydrogen water or inhalation as a sepsis treatment in people. Further research in human patients would be needed to determine if these findings apply to human medicine.
Abstract (excerpt)
To investigate the effects and mechanisms of hydrogen inhalation on serum levels of pro-inflammatory factors and intestinal injury in severe septic mice. 176 male ICR mice were randomly divided into four groups: sham operation group, hydrogen control group ( sham + hydrogen inhalation ), model…