Hydrogen Water Protects Male Fertility After Spinal Cord Injury
- Authors
- Li Ge, Li-Hua Wei, Chang-Qing Du, Guo-Hua Song, Ya-Zhuo Xue, Hao-Shen Shi, Ming Yang, Xin-Xin Yin, Run-Ting Li, Xue-er Wang, Zhen Wang, Wen-Gang Song
- Journal
- Oncotarget
- Year
- 2017
- DOI
- 10.18632/oncotarget.15876
- Study Type
- Rat
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- China
- Health Condition
- Spinal Cord Injury
- Body System
- Reproductive
TL;DR
Hydrogen-rich saline helps improve testicular function and reduces cell damage in rats with a specific type of spinal cord injury.
Key Finding
In rats with spinal cord injury, hydrogen-rich saline treatment significantly improved testicular structure and function, restoring multiple markers of reproductive health to near-normal levels.
Summary
This study examined whether hydrogen-rich saline (a salt water solution containing dissolved hydrogen gas) could help repair testicular damage caused by spinal cord injury in rats. Researchers compared rats with spinal cord injuries that received either regular saline or hydrogen-rich saline, measuring changes in testis size, cell structure, and markers of cell damage. Rats treated with hydrogen-rich saline showed significant improvements in testicular function and structure compared to untreated injured rats, with benefits appearing to work through reducing oxidative stress (cellular damage from unstable molecules) and cell death.
Practical Takeaway
This is an early-stage animal study showing hydrogen-rich saline may help protect reproductive function after spinal cord injury, but results from rats do not directly translate to humans. Much more research, including human trials, would be needed before any therapeutic claims could be made for spinal cord injury patients.
Abstract
To study how hydrogen-rich saline (HS) promotes the recovery of testicular biological function in a hemi-sectioned spinal cord injury (hSCI) rat model, a right hemisection was performed at the T11-T12 of the spinal cord in Wistar rats. Animals were divided into four groups: normal group; vehicle group: sham-operated rats administered saline; hSCI group: subjected to hSCI and administered saline; HRST group: subjected to hSCI and administered HS. Hind limb neurological function, testis index, testicular morphology, mean seminiferous tubular diameter (MSTD) and seminiferous epithelial thickness (MSET), the expression of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), mitofusin-2 (MFN-2), and high-mobility group box 1 (HMGB-1), cell ultrastructure, and apoptosis of spermatogenic cells were studied. The results indicated that hSCI significantly decreased the hind limb neurological function, testis index, MSTD, and MSET, and induced severe testicular morphological injury. The MFN-2 level was decreased, and HO-1 and HMGB-1 were overexpressed in testicular tissues. In addition, hSCI accelerated the apoptosis of spermatogenic cells and the ultrastructural damage of cells in the hypophysis and testis. After HS administration, all these parameters were considerably improved, and the characteristics of hSCI testes were similar to those of normal control testes. Taken together, HS administration can promote the recovery of testicular biological function by anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory, and anti-apoptotic action. More importantly, HS can inhibit the hSCI-induced ultrastructural changes in gonadotrophs, ameliorate the abnormal regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-testis axis, and thereby promote the recovery of testicular injury. HS administration also inhibited the hSCI-induced ultrastructural changes in testicular spermatogenic cells, Sertoli cells and interstitial cells.