Hydrogen Therapy Reduces Blood Clotting in Lab Study
- Authors
- Satoru Takeuchi, Kojiro Wada, Kimihiro Nagatani, Hideo Osada, Naoki Otani, Hiroshi Nawashiro
- Journal
- Internal Medicine
- Year
- 2012
- DOI
- 10.2169/internalmedicine.51.7161
- Study Type
- Rat
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- Japan
- Health Condition
- Blood Clotting Disorders
- Body System
- Cardiovascular
TL;DR
Hydrogen treatment can reduce the clumping together of blood platelets that is triggered by collagen.
Key Finding
Hydrogen-rich saline and hydrogen gas both significantly reduced collagen-induced platelet aggregation in human blood samples and in rats, suggesting hydrogen may modulate platelet activation.
Summary
Researchers tested whether hydrogen could reduce platelet clumping (a process involved in blood clotting) triggered by collagen. They used blood samples from six healthy people and also tested hydrogen in rats. In both cases, hydrogen-rich solutions significantly reduced the clumping response compared to regular saline, suggesting hydrogen may have an effect on how platelets (blood cells involved in clotting) behave.
Practical Takeaway
This early-stage research in human blood samples and rats suggests hydrogen might influence platelet function, but these are laboratory and animal studies only—not human trials. Much more research would be needed to determine whether hydrogen water could have any practical effect on blood clotting or cardiovascular health in people.
Abstract
Hydrogen selectively reduces hydroxyl radicals and peroxynitrite, and numerous experimental and clinical studies suggest that hydrogen can exert potent cellular protective effects against a wide variety of diseases. Furthermore, there is increasing evidence that antioxidants can modulate platelet activation. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between hydrogen and collagen-induced platelet aggregation. For human ex vivo studies, we collected blood samples from six healthy humans and added normal saline or hydrogen-rich saline to blood and platelet-rich plasma. We found that collagen (1 µg/mL)-induced platelet aggregation was significantly inhibited by hydrogen-rich saline compared with a normal saline group (p=0.044). For rat in vivo studies, animals (n=17) were exposed to either nitrogen-based mixed gas with hydrogen (H2 gas group; n=9) or without hydrogen (non-H2 gas group; n=8). Additionally, another animals (n=13) administered either normal (NS group; n=7) or hydrogen-rich saline (HS group; n=6) (5 ml/kg) via intravenous infusion. Blood samples were drawn from the vena cava before treatment and from the right ventricle after treatment. Collagen (12 µg/mL)-induced platelet aggregation was then measured. Collagen-induced platelet aggregation was significantly decreased in H2 gas and HS group rats (p=0.042, 0.018, respectively), while there was no difference in non-H2 gas and NS group rats before and after treatment. In summary, these data suggest that hydrogen may inhibit collagen-induced platelet aggregation.