Hydrogen Therapy Improves Blood Sugar Control in Type 1 Diabetes Study

Summary by Hydrogen Studies Editorial Team · Updated

Authors
Journal
PLoS One
Year
DOI
10.1371/journal.pone.0053913
Study Type
Mouse
Outcome
Positive
Peer Reviewed
Yes
Country
Japan
Health Condition
Type 1 Diabetes
Body System
Endocrine

TL;DR

Hydrogen gas can help sugar enter muscle cells like insulin does and might be a new oral treatment for type 1 diabetes, but it doesn't work as well for type 2 diabetes.

Key Finding

Hydrogen gas improved blood sugar control in type 1 diabetic mice by promoting glucose uptake into skeletal muscle through insulin-like mechanisms, but showed limited effectiveness in type 2 diabetes and obesity models.

Summary

Researchers tested whether hydrogen gas could help control blood sugar in diabetic mice by studying how it affects glucose (sugar) movement into muscle cells. They found that hydrogen promoted glucose uptake into muscle cells through activation of specific cellular pathways, similar to how insulin works. In mice with type 1 diabetes, hydrogen administration improved blood sugar control, but it was less effective in mice with type 2 diabetes or obesity.

Practical Takeaway

This is an animal study only, so results cannot yet be applied to humans. The findings suggest hydrogen water may have potential as a type 1 diabetes therapy, but much more research—including human clinical trials—would be needed before any health claims could be made. The lack of effectiveness in type 2 diabetes models is also an important limitation to note.

Abstract (excerpt)

Hydrogen (H(2)) acts as a therapeutic antioxidant. However, there are few reports on H(2) function in other capacities in diabetes mellitus (DM). Therefore, in this study, we investigated the role of H(2) in glucose transport by studying cultured mouse C2C12 cells and human hepatoma Hep-G2 cells…

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