Hydrogen Water Reduces Abdominal Pain in IBD Rat Study
- Authors
- Di Hu, Tianliang Huang, Mika Shigeta, Yuta Ochi, Shigeru Kabayama, Yasuyoshi Watanabe, Yilong Cui
- Journal
- Nutrients
- Year
- 2022
- DOI
- 10.3390/nu14214451
- Study Type
- Rat
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- Japan
- Health Condition
- Inflammatory Bowel Disease
- Body System
- Digestive
TL;DR
Drinking electrolyzed hydrogen water (EHW) can significantly reduce abdominal pain and inflammation in a rat model of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
Key Finding
In rats with induced inflammatory bowel disease, electrolyzed hydrogen water significantly reduced abdominal pain and colonic inflammation compared to controls, with effects linked to reduced free radicals and inflammatory markers.
Summary
Researchers gave rats with artificially induced inflammatory bowel disease (IBD—a condition causing chronic inflammation in the digestive tract) electrolyzed hydrogen water (water treated to contain dissolved hydrogen gas) or regular water. The rats that received hydrogen water experienced less abdominal pain and less inflammation in their colon tissue compared to control rats. The hydrogen water appeared to work by reducing harmful molecules called free radicals and decreasing inflammatory chemicals in the gut.
Practical Takeaway
While this rat study suggests hydrogen water may help reduce IBD-related inflammation and pain, it cannot be directly applied to humans yet. Human clinical trials would be needed to determine if these effects occur in people with IBD and at what doses. Anyone with IBD should consult their doctor before trying hydrogen water as a supplement.
Abstract
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is characterized by chronic inflammation of the digestive tract and is typically accompanied by characteristic symptoms, such as abdominal pain, diarrhea, and bloody stool, severely deteriorating the quality of the patient's life. Electrolyzed hydrogen water (EHW) has been shown to alleviate inflammation in several diseases, such as renal disease and polymyositis/dermatomyositis. To investigate whether and how daily EHW consumption alleviates abdominal pain, the most common symptom of IBD, we examined the antioxidative and anti-inflammatory effects of EHW in an IBD rat model, wherein colonic inflammation was induced by colorectal administration of 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS). We found that EHW significantly alleviated TNBS-induced abdominal pain and tissue inflammation. Moreover, the production of proinflammatory cytokines in inflamed colon tissue was also decreased significantly. Meanwhile, the overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which is intricately involved in intestinal inflammation, was significantly suppressed by EHW. Additionally, expression of S100A9, an inflammatory biomarker of IBD, was significantly suppressed by EHW. These results suggest that the EHW prevented the overproduction of ROS due to its powerful free-radical scavenging ability and blocked the crosstalk between oxidative stress and inflammation, thereby suppressing colonic inflammation and alleviating abdominal pain.