Hydrogen Gas Reduces Brain Damage After Stroke in Mice
Hydrogen inhibits microglial activation and regulates microglial phenotype in a mouse middle cerebral artery occlusion model
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
- Qi-Yong Mei, Qin Hu, Jun-Long Huang, Wen-Wu Liu, Anatol Manaenko, Xue-Jun Sun
- Journal
- Medical Gas Research
- Year
- 2019
- PMID
- 31552875
- Study Type
- Mouse
- Participants
- 80
- Delivery
- Gas
- Dose
- 66.7% H2 balanced with O2 for 90 minutes, starting immediately after initiation of reperfusion
- H₂ concentration
- 66.7% H2
- Duration
- 1 day or less
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Cited by
- 15 (OpenAlex, as of November 2026)
- Country
- China
TL;DR
Breathing in high concentrations of hydrogen gas can reduce brain damage and improve recovery after a stroke by calming down immune cells in the brain.
Key Finding
High-concentration hydrogen gas inhalation reduced brain injury and neurological dysfunction after stroke in mice by suppressing inflammatory activation of immune cells in the brain.
Summary
Researchers studied whether breathing high-concentration hydrogen gas could protect the brain after a stroke in mice. They induced a stroke by blocking blood flow to part of the brain, then gave some mice hydrogen gas to breathe while others received a control gas. The hydrogen-treated mice had less brain damage, better neurological function, and showed changes in brain immune cells (microglia) that reduced inflammation.
Practical Takeaway
This mouse study suggests hydrogen gas may protect the brain after stroke by reducing inflammation, but this is early-stage research in animals only. Much more work—including human studies—would be needed before any conclusions about hydrogen's effects in stroke patients could be drawn.
Abstract (excerpt)
Microglia participate in bi-directional control of brain repair after stroke. Previous studies have demonstrated that hydrogen protects brain after ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) by inhibiting inflammation, but the specific mechanism of anti-inflammatory effect of hydrogen is poorly understood…