Hydrogen Gas Protects Brain After Stroke by Blocking Harmful Immune Cells
Hydrogen Inhalation Ameliorated Mast Cell–Mediated Brain Injury After Intracerebral Hemorrhage in Mice
Research hubs: Brain & Nervous System · Cardiovascular System
This research was done in animals. Results in animals often don't carry over to people.
- Evidence type
- Animal study (mouse)
- Authors
- Anatol Manaenko, Tim Lekic, Qingyi Ma, John H. Zhang, Jiping Tang
- Journal
- Critical Care Medicine
- Year
- 2013
- PMID
- 23388512
- Study Type
- Mouse
- Participants
- 171
- Delivery
- Gas
- Dose
- spontaneous inhalation
- Duration
- 3 days
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Cited by
- 68 (OpenAlex, as of November 2026)
- Country
- United States
TL;DR
Breathing in hydrogen gas can protect the brain and improve recovery after a stroke by preventing immune cells called mast cells from causing further damage.
Key Finding
Hydrogen inhalation reduced mast cell activation and prevented blood-brain barrier breakdown in mice with intracerebral hemorrhage, leading to less brain swelling and better neurological outcomes.
Summary
Researchers gave mice with brain bleeding hydrogen gas to breathe and studied how it affected brain injury. They found that hydrogen reduced activation of mast cells (immune cells in the brain), which helped protect the blood-brain barrier (the membrane that controls what enters the brain), reduced brain swelling, and improved neurological function in the mice.
Practical Takeaway
This is an early-stage animal study showing hydrogen may help protect the brain after bleeding by reducing immune cell activation. However, these results are from mice only and have not been tested in humans, so it is too soon to draw conclusions about hydrogen's usefulness for stroke patients.
Abstract (excerpt)
Objective: Hydrogen inhalation was neuroprotective in several brain injury models. Its mechanisms are believed to be related to antioxidative stress. We investigated the potential neurovascular protective effect of hydrogen inhalation especially effect on mast cell activation in a mouse model…