Hydrogen Gas Naturally Protects Liver Health Through Gut Bacteria
- Authors
- Yaxing Zhang, Jingting Xu, Hongzhi Yang
- Journal
- Frontiers in Pharmacology
- Year
- 2020
- DOI
- 10.3389/fphar.2020.00877
- Study Type
- clinical
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- China
- Health Condition
- Hepatitis
- Body System
- Hepatic
TL;DR
Scientists discovered that a tiny gas called hydrogen, made by bacteria in your gut, helps protect your liver from damage and disease—and your liver is actually really good at storing this helpful gas, which means boosting it could be a new way to treat liver problems.
Key Finding
The liver accumulates hydrogen gas at higher concentrations than other organs and may use hydrogen's antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties to maintain normal function and protect against injury.
Summary
This review examines how hydrogen gas (H2), a molecule produced naturally by bacteria in the gut, may help protect liver health. Research suggests hydrogen has antioxidant (damage-fighting), anti-inflammatory (swelling-reducing), and anti-apoptotic (cell-death-preventing) properties. The liver appears to accumulate hydrogen more than other organs, and studies in animals and some human research indicate that increasing hydrogen levels—either through gut bacteria or direct supplementation—might help treat liver damage, fatty liver disease, and other liver conditions.
Practical Takeaway
While animal studies and some human research suggest hydrogen supplementation may support liver health, this is a review article rather than a new experimental study, and most evidence comes from animal models. More rigorous human trials are needed before hydrogen can be recommended as a liver health treatment. The potential role of gut bacteria in producing hydrogen naturally is an interesting area for future research.
Abstract
Basic and clinical studies have shown that hydrogen (H2), the lightest gas in the air, has significant biological effects of anti-oxidation, anti-inflammation, and anti-apoptosis. The mammalian cells have no abilities to produce H2 due to lack of the expression of hydrogenase. The endogenous H2 in human body is mainly produced by anaerobic bacteria, such as Firmicutes and Bacteroides, in gut and other organs through the reversible oxidation reaction of 2 H+ + 2 e- ⇌ H2. Supplement of exogenous H2 can improve many kinds of liver injuries, modulate glucose and lipids metabolism in animal models or in human beings. Moreover, hepatic glycogen has strong ability to accumulate H2, thus, among the organs examined, liver has the highest concentration of H2 after supplement of exogenous H2 by various strategies in vivo. The inadequate production of endogenous H2 play essential roles in brain, heart, and liver disorders, while enhanced endogenous H2 production may improve hepatitis, hepatic ischemia and reperfusion injury, liver regeneration, and hepatic steatosis. Therefore, the endogenous H2 may play essential roles in maintaining liver homeostasis.