Hydrogen Water Prevents Depression-Like Symptoms in Mice Study
- Authors
- Yi Zhang, Wen-Jun Su, Ying Chen, Teng-Yun Wu, Hong Gong, Xiao-Liang Shen, Yun-Xia Wang, Xue-Jun Sun, Chun-Lei Jiang
- Journal
- Scientific Reports
- Year
- 2016
- DOI
- 10.1038/srep23742
- Study Type
- Mouse
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- China
- Health Condition
- Major Depressive Disorder
- Body System
- Nervous System
TL;DR
Drinking water with added hydrogen can reduce signs of depression in mice by lowering inflammation and stress in the brain.
Key Finding
Hydrogen-rich water prevented depression-like behavior in stressed mice by reducing inflammation and oxidative stress (cellular damage from harmful oxygen molecules) in key brain regions.
Summary
This study tested whether drinking hydrogen-rich water could reduce depression-like symptoms in mice exposed to chronic stress. Researchers found that mice given hydrogen-rich water for 4 weeks showed fewer depression-like behaviors and had lower levels of inflammatory molecules and harmful oxygen compounds in their brains compared to stressed mice that didn't receive the hydrogen water.
Practical Takeaway
This is early-stage research conducted only in mice, so it cannot yet tell us whether hydrogen water would help human depression. The findings suggest hydrogen may work by reducing brain inflammation, but human studies would be needed to determine if this translates to actual therapeutic benefit and whether it could be a useful addition to existing depression treatments.
Abstract
Emerging evidence suggests that neuroinflammation and oxidative stress may be major contributors to major depressive disorder (MDD). Patients or animal models of depression show significant increase of proinflammatory cytokine interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and oxidative stress biomarkers in the periphery or central nervous system (CNS). Recent studies show that hydrogen selectively reduces cytotoxic oxygen radicals, and hydrogen-rich saline potentially suppresses the production of several proinflammatory mediators. Since current depression medications are accompanied by a wide spectrum of side effects, novel preventative or therapeutic measures with fewer side effects might have a promising future. We investigated the effects of drinking hydrogen-rich water on the depressive-like behavior in mice and its underlying mechanisms. Our study show that hydrogen-rich water treatment prevents chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) induced depressive-like behavior. CUMS induced elevation in IL-1β protein levels in the hippocampus, and the cortex was significantly attenuated after 4 weeks of feeding the mice hydrogen-rich water. Over-expression of caspase-1 (the IL-1β converting enzyme) and excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex (PFC) was successfully suppressed by hydrogen-rich water treatment. Our data suggest that the beneficial effects of hydrogen-rich water on depressive-like behavior may be mediated by suppression of the inflammasome activation resulting in attenuated protein IL-1β and ROS production.