Hydrogen Bandages Speed Wound Healing Better Than Regular Dressings
- Authors
- Pengxiang Zhao, Yufei Li, Boyuan Guo, Ziyi Liu, Xujuan Zhang, Mengyu Liu, Xuemei Ma
- Journal
- Pharmaceutics
- Year
- 2025
- DOI
- 10.3390/pharmaceutics17030279
- Study Type
- Mouse
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- China
- Health Condition
- Skin Wounds
- Body System
- Integumentary System
TL;DR
Hydrogen-releasing bandages can speed up wound healing by enhancing skin growth, blood vessel development, and collagen production.
Key Finding
Hydrogen-releasing wound dressings significantly accelerated skin wound healing in mice by promoting new skin cell growth, new blood vessel formation, and collagen buildup.
Summary
Researchers created special wound dressings that slowly release hydrogen gas and tested them on mice with large skin wounds. The hydrogen dressings significantly sped up wound healing by promoting the growth of new skin cells, new blood vessels, and collagen (a protein that strengthens tissue). The dressings that released hydrogen slowly worked better than those that released it all at once.
Practical Takeaway
This early-stage research in mice suggests that hydrogen-releasing dressings may support wound healing, but human studies are needed before any conclusions can be drawn about effectiveness in people. The study does not provide information about safety, optimal hydrogen doses, or how this approach compares to existing wound treatments.
Abstract
Background: Wound healing is a complex and intricate biological process that involves multiple systems within the body and initiates a series of highly coordinated responses to repair damage and restore integrity and functionality. We previously identified that breathing hydrogen can significantly inhibit early inflammation, activate autologous stem cells, and promote the accumulation of extracellular matrix (ECM). However, the broader functions and downstream targets of hydrogen-induced ECM accumulation and tissue remodeling are unknown in the wound-healing process. Methods: Consequently, this thesis developed a hydrogen sustained-release dressing based on a micro storage material and reveals the mechanism of hydrogen in treating wound healing. Upon encapsulating the hydrogen storage materials, magnesium (Mg), and ammonia borane (AB), we found that SiO2@Mg exhibits superior sustained-release performance, while SiO2@AB demonstrates a higher hydrogen storage capacity. We used a C57/BL6 mouse full-thickness skin defect wound model to analyze and compare different hydrogen dressings. Results: It was identified that hydrogen dressings can significantly improve the healing rate of wounds by promoting epithelialization, angiogenesis, and collagen accumulation in wound tissue, and that the effect of slow-release dressings is better than of non-slow-release dressings. We also found that hydrogen dressing can promote transcriptome-level expression related to cell proliferation and differentiation and ECM accumulation, mainly through the Wnt1/β-catenin pathway and TGF-β1/Smad2 pathway. Conclusions: Overall, these results provide a novel insight into the field of hydrogen treatment and wound healing.