How Hydrogen Gas Works as a Selective Antioxidant for Health
- Authors
- Nathanael Matei, Richard Camara, John H. Zhang
- Journal
- Medical Gas Research
- Year
- 2018
- DOI
- 10.4103/2045-9912.239959
- Study Type
- clinical
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- United States
- Health Condition
- Oxidative Stress Disorders
- Body System
- Cardiovascular
TL;DR
Scientists found that breathing in hydrogen gas could help fight harmful damage in your body without blocking the good stuff your body needs to stay healthy, and it works in several different ways to reduce inflammation and protect your cells—which means it might help treat lots of different diseases.
Key Finding
Hydrogen gas acts as a selective antioxidant that targets only harmful oxidants while preserving beneficial ones, avoiding a key limitation of conventional antioxidant therapy.
Summary
This review examines how hydrogen gas therapy works in the body and its potential medical applications. Unlike traditional antioxidants (substances that reduce harmful oxidation), hydrogen gas selectively targets only the most damaging oxidants while leaving beneficial ones intact. The review describes multiple ways hydrogen gas may reduce inflammation and protect cells, including effects on gene expression, blood vessel formation, and cellular energy production, though most evidence comes from laboratory and animal studies rather than human trials.
Practical Takeaway
While this review identifies promising molecular mechanisms for hydrogen gas therapy across multiple disease areas, it is a summary of existing research rather than a new study with human results. The evidence base remains primarily pre-clinical and animal-based; substantial additional human clinical trials are needed before firm conclusions can be drawn about therapeutic benefits for any specific condition.
Abstract
Clinical and pre-clinical studies have reported a broad range of applications for hydrogen gas therapy. Classically, conventional antioxidant therapy is limited because it neutralizes both the detrimental and protective effects of reactive oxygen species. As a weak reducing agent, hydrogen gas avoids this paradox by reacting with strong oxidants while leaving other beneficial oxidants reactive. This review gathers a promising list of hydrogen gas applications that merit further mechanistic investigation and additional therapeutic trials. Reports support the ability of hydrogen gas to downregulate the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines and pro-apoptotic factors. Mechanistically, hydrogen gas has been shown to downregulate miR-9 and miR-21, while upregulating miR-199 to reduce inflammatory injury. In angiogenic pathways, hydrogen's inhibition of cyclic guanosine monophosphate-degrading phosphodiesterase led to higher levels of cyclic guanosine monophosphate, activation of protein kinase, and angiogenesis; next, as hydrogen gas increased the levels of intracellular calcium, stimulated vascular endothelial growth factor increased nitric oxide production. In conjunction, hydrogen gas opened adenosine triphosphate-sensitive potassium channel channels, which activate downstream mitogen-activated protein kinase pathways. Growing molecular mechanisms have discovered a plethora of downstream targets for hydrogen gas therapy that include autophagy (via the adenosine 5'-monophosphate-activated protein kinase/mammalian target of rapamycin pathway), histone modification, mitochondrial unfolded protein response, acute oxidative stress after exercise, and oxidative stress secondary to aging. In conclusion, evolving research has discovered novel molecular connections that will continue to widen applications for hydrogen therapy.