Hydrogen Water Reduces Withdrawal Symptoms in Opioid-Dependent Mice
- Authors
- Di Wen, Peng Zhao, Rongji Hui, Jian Wang, Qianchao Shen, Miao Gong, Hongyan Guo, Bin Cong, Chunling Ma
- Journal
- Neuropharmacology
- Year
- 2017
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2017.03.029
- Study Type
- Mouse
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- China
- Health Condition
- Opioid Dependence
- Body System
- Central Nervous System
TL;DR
Hydrogen-rich saline may help reduce withdrawal symptoms and anxiety in mice addicted to morphine without causing any movement problems.
Key Finding
Hydrogen-rich saline reduced physical withdrawal symptoms (weight loss, jumping, involuntary shaking) and anxiety-like behaviors in morphine-withdrawn mice, while lowering stress hormone levels.
Summary
Researchers gave mice morphine to create withdrawal symptoms, then treated some with hydrogen-rich saline (a salt solution containing dissolved hydrogen gas) while others received standard treatment. Mice receiving hydrogen-rich saline showed fewer withdrawal symptoms like weight loss and involuntary movements, and displayed less anxiety-like behavior in behavioral tests. The hydrogen-treated mice also had lower levels of corticosterone, a stress hormone.
Practical Takeaway
This is an early-stage animal study suggesting hydrogen may help reduce anxiety during opioid withdrawal, but it was conducted only in mice and does not yet indicate how or whether this would work in humans. Much more research, including human trials, would be needed before any conclusions about therapeutic use could be drawn.
Abstract
Hydrogen therapy is a new medical approach for a wide range of diseases. The effects of hydrogen on central nervous system-related diseases have recently become increasingly appreciated, but little is known about whether hydrogen affects the morphine withdrawal process. This study aims to investigate the potential effects of hydrogen-rich saline (HRS) administration on naloxone-precipitated withdrawal symptoms and morphine withdrawal-induced anxiety-like behaviors. Mice received gradually increasing doses (25-100 mg/kg, i.p.) of morphine over 3 days. In the naloxone-precipitated withdrawal procedure, the mice were treated with three HRS (20 μg/kg, i.p.) injections, and naloxone (1 mg/kg, i.p.) was given 30 min after HRS administration. Body weight, jumping behavior and wet-dog shakes were immediately assessed. In the spontaneous withdrawal procedure, the mice were treated with HRS (20 μg/kg, i.p.) every 8-h. Mice underwent naloxone-precipitated or spontaneous withdrawal were tested for anxiety-like behaviors in the elevated plus-maze (EPM) and light/dark box (L/D box) paradigm, respectively. In addition, the levels of plasma corticosterone were measured. We found that HRS administration significantly reduced body weight loss, jumping behavior and wet-dog shakes in mice underwent naloxone-precipitated withdrawal, and attenuated anxiety-like behaviors in the EPM and L/D box tests after naloxone-precipitated withdrawal or a 2-day spontaneous withdrawal period. Hypo-activity or motor impairment after HRS administration was not observed in the locomotion tests. Furthermore, HRS administration significantly decreased the levels of corticosterone in morphine-withdrawn mice. These are the first findings to indicate that hydrogen might ameliorate withdrawal symptoms and exert an anxiolytic-like effect in morphine-withdrawal mice.