Hydrogen Gas Protects Lungs from Oxygen Damage in Mice Study
Hydrogen protects lung from hypoxia/re-oxygenation injury by reducing hydroxyl radical production and inhibiting inflammatory responses
Research hubs: Respiratory System
This research was done in animals. Results in animals often don't carry over to people.
- Evidence type
- Animal study (mouse)
- Authors
- Meihong Chen, Jie Zhang, Yun Chen, Yan Qiu, Zi Luo, Sixia Zhao, Lei Du, Dongbo Tian
- Journal
- Scientific Reports
- Year
- 2018
- PMID
- 29789753
- Study Type
- Mouse
- Delivery
- Gas
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Cited by
- 38 (OpenAlex, as of November 2026)
- Country
- China
TL;DR
Hydrogen gas can reduce lung damage caused by cycles of low oxygen and re-oxygenation.
Key Finding
Hydrogen gas protected mouse lungs from hypoxia/re-oxygenation injury by reducing hydroxyl radical production and suppressing inflammatory immune responses, including neutrophil infiltration and macrophage recruitment.
Summary
Researchers exposed mice to cycles of low oxygen followed by normal oxygen (a condition that damages lung tissue) and tested whether hydrogen gas could protect against this injury. Hydrogen gas significantly reduced lung damage by decreasing harmful molecules called hydroxyl radicals and reducing inflammatory responses, including the buildup of immune cells in lung tissue. However, hydrogen did not affect all aspects of the injury—some changes in blood vessel structure still occurred.
Practical Takeaway
This mouse study suggests hydrogen gas may have potential as an anti-inflammatory and antioxidant treatment for certain types of lung injury, but these are early findings in animals only. Human studies would be needed to determine whether these protective effects translate to people, and the study did not test hydrogen water specifically—it used hydrogen gas directly.
Abstract (excerpt)
Here we investigated whether hydrogen can protect the lung from chronic injury induced by hypoxia/re-oxygenation (H/R). We developed a mouse model in which H/R exposure triggered clinically typical lung injury, involving increased alveolar wall thickening, infiltration by neutrophils…