Hydrogen Therapy Improves Memory Loss in Dementia Rats
- Authors
- Congwen Yang, Yuxuan He, Shuang Ren, Yiqin Ding, Xinru Liu, Xue Li, Hao Sun, Dezhi Jiao, Haolin Zhang, Yingshuai Wang, Lin Sun
- Journal
- Advanced Healthcare Materials
- Year
- 2024
- DOI
- 10.1002/adhm.202400400
- Study Type
- Rats
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- China
- Health Condition
- Vascular Dementia
- Body System
- Nervous System
TL;DR
Hydrogen treatment, delivered through magnesium silicide nanosheets, improves memory and reduces brain cell damage in rats with a type of dementia caused by poor blood flow to the brain.
Key Finding
Hydrogen delivered via magnesium silicide nanosheets improved learning and memory in rats with vascular dementia and reduced markers of oxidative stress and inflammation in the brain.
Summary
Researchers tested whether hydrogen gas could help rats with vascular dementia (a type of dementia caused by reduced blood flow to the brain) improve their memory and learning. They delivered hydrogen using special nanosheet particles that released it slowly in the body. Rats treated with hydrogen performed better on memory tests and showed less brain cell damage and inflammation compared to untreated rats.
Practical Takeaway
This is early-stage research in rats only, so it cannot yet be applied to humans. The study suggests hydrogen may have potential for vascular dementia by reducing brain inflammation and oxidative damage, but human clinical trials would be needed to determine if these effects translate to people and whether this approach is safe and effective.
Abstract
Vascular dementia (VaD) is the second most common form of dementia worldwide. Oxidative stress and neuroinflammation are important factors contributing to cognitive dysfunction in patients with VaD. The antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of hydrogen are increasingly being utilizied in neurological disorders, but conventional hydrogen delivery has the disadvantage of inefficiency. Therefore, we used magnesium silicide nanosheets (MSNs) to release hydrogen in vivo in larger quantities and for longer periods of time to explore the appropriate dosage and regimen. In this study, we observed that hydrogen improved learning and working memory in VaD rats in the Morris water maze and Y-maze, which elicited improved cognitive function. Nissl staining of neurons showed that hydrogen treatment significantly improved edema in neuronal cells. The expression and activation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), Thioredoxin-interacting protein (TXNIP), NOD-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3), caspase-1 and IL-1β in the hippocampus were measured via ELISA, Western blotting, real-time qPCR, and immunofluorescence. The results showed that oxidative stress indicators and inflammasome-related factors were significantly decreased after 7dMSN treatment. Therefore, we concluded that hydrogen can ameliorate neurological damage and cognitive dysfunction in VaD rats by inhibiting ROS/NLRP3/IL-1β-related oxidative stress and inflammation. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.