Hydrogen Gas Protects Donated Livers During Organ Preservation
- Authors
- Yusuke Minami, Siddabasave Gowda B Gowda, Kengo Shibata, Sodai Sakamoto, Divyavani Gowda, Tsuyoshi Shimamura, Akinobu Taketomi, Hitoshi Chiba, Moto Fukai, Shu-Ping Hui
- Journal
- Journal of Lipid Research
- Year
- 2026
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.jlr.2026.101040
- Study Type
- Rat
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- Japan
- Health Condition
- Liver Failure
- Body System
- Hepatic
TL;DR
Hydrogen-enriched hypothermic machine perfusion altered lipid metabolism in DCD rat livers in ways consistent with reduced ischemia-reperfusion injury, improved membrane stability, and better mitochondrial preservation.
Key Finding
Hydrogen gas added to liver preservation solution altered specific lipid molecules in ways that suggest it may help protect donor livers from damage during the preservation and transplant process.
Summary
This rat study examined how adding hydrogen gas to a machine that preserves donor livers affects the liver's fat molecules (lipids). Researchers compared livers preserved with cold storage alone, machine perfusion, and machine perfusion with added hydrogen gas. They found that hydrogen gas changed the types and amounts of lipids in the liver in ways that suggest it may protect against damage that occurs when blood flow is restored to the organ after preservation.
Practical Takeaway
This is an early-stage rat study focused on organ transplant preservation rather than drinking hydrogen water. While the findings suggest hydrogen may help protect liver tissue at the molecular level, this research does not yet tell us anything about hydrogen water's effects on human health or liver function in living people.
Abstract
Hypothermic machine perfusion (HMP) combined with hydrogen gas has previously been shown to mitigate ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) in rat liver, but without full recovery of function. This study examined how hydrogen gas modulates hepatic lipid metabolism during HMP using donation after cardiac death (DCD) rat livers. Untargeted liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry was employed to perform comprehensive lipidomic profiling of liver samples. The analysis results revealed distinct lipid metabolic alterations across cold storage (CS), machine perfusion (MP), and hydrogen-supplemented perfusion (MP-H2) groups compared to healthy controls. Compared with MP, MP-H2 treatment reduced lysophosphatidylinositol (LPI) levels and the LPI/phosphatidylinositol (PI) ratio while increasing phosphatidic acid (PA) species such as PA (18:0/18:1) and PA (18:0/20:4). Elevated lysophosphatidylethanolamine (LPE) and ceramide (Cer) in MP-H2 suggested adaptive remodeling of membrane lipids. The ratio of monolysocardiolipin to cardiolipin increased in the MP group but was reduced following hydrogen gas treatment. These lipidomic shifts imply that hydrogen gas attenuates IRI by stabilizing lipid homeostasis and may improve DCD graft viability. Furthermore, the restoration of key lipid species associated with mitochondrial integrity and membrane remodeling suggests that hydrogen gas supports bioenergetic recovery and limits oxidative membrane damage during reperfusion. Overall, these findings highlight the potential of hydrogen-enriched perfusion as a metabolic intervention to enhance organ preservation, reduce mitochondrial dysfunction, and extend the usable lifespan of DCD liver grafts for transplantation.