Hydrogen Water Baths Protect Skin from UV Damage in Mice
- Authors
- Kyung Su Yoon, Xue Zhu Huang, Yang Suk Yoon, Soo-Ki Kim, Soon Bong Song, Byung Soo Chang, Dong Heui Kim, Kyu Jae Lee
- Journal
- Biological and Pharmaceutical Bulletin
- Year
- 2011
- DOI
- 10.1248/bpb.34.1671
- Study Type
- Mouse
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- South Korea
- Health Condition
- UV Skin Damage
- Body System
- Integumentary
TL;DR
Bathing in electrolyzed reduced water (ERW) can lessen skin damage caused by UV rays in mice.
Key Finding
In hairless mice with UVB-induced skin damage, bathing in electrolyzed reduced water significantly reduced skin thickening and altered inflammatory markers compared to tap water bathing.
Summary
Researchers exposed hairless mice to UVB radiation (the type of sunlight that causes sunburn) to damage their skin, then had some mice bathe in electrolyzed reduced water (water treated with electricity to add hydrogen) and others bathe in regular tap water for 21 days. The mice bathing in the treated water showed less skin damage, including less thickening of the outer skin layer and fewer immune cells in the deeper skin layers. The treated water also appeared to shift the balance of inflammatory chemicals (molecules that cause inflammation) toward less harmful ones.
Practical Takeaway
This is an early-stage animal study suggesting electrolyzed reduced water bathing may help with UV-related skin damage, but it was only tested in mice, not humans. Before considering this approach for human skin health, human clinical trials would be needed to confirm whether these effects translate to people and whether bathing (rather than drinking) is an effective delivery method.
Abstract (excerpt)
Electrolyzed reduced water (ERW), functional water, has various beneficial effects via antioxidant mechanism in vivo and in vitro. However there is no study about beneficial effects of ERW bathing. This study aimed to determine the effect of ERW bathing on the UVB-induced skin injury in hairless…