Hydrogen Injection Helps Spinal Cord Injury Recovery in Rats
Hydrogen-rich saline injection into the subarachnoid cavity within 2 weeks promotes recovery after acute spinal cord injury
Research hubs: Brain & Nervous System
This research was done in animals. Results in animals often don't carry over to people.
- Evidence type
- Animal study (rat)
- Authors
- Ke-xiang Zhang, Jian-long Wang, Qing-shan Zhang, Kai-di Zhu, Jian-feng Sun, Ze-peng Zhang, Jian-wen Sun
- Journal
- Neural Regeneration Research
- Year
- 2015
- PMID
- 26199614
- Study Type
- Rat
- Delivery
- Saline (Dissolved)
- Dose
- 0.25 mL/kg hydrogen-rich saline injected into subarachnoid space at 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 8, 12 and 24 hours after injury, then once daily for 2 weeks
- Duration
- 2 weeks
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Cited by
- 16 (OpenAlex, as of November 2026)
- Country
- China
TL;DR
Injecting a solution high in hydrogen helps repair spinal cord damage in rats and reduces harmful inflammation and cell death.
Key Finding
Hydrogen-rich saline injected into the space around the spinal cord within two weeks of injury reduced cell death, inflammation, and oxidative stress while improving motor function in rats with acute spinal cord injury.
Summary
Researchers tested whether hydrogen-rich saline (a salt solution containing dissolved hydrogen) could help repair spinal cord injuries in rats. They injected the solution directly into the fluid surrounding the spinal cord multiple times over two weeks following injury. The treatment reduced cell death and inflammation, boosted the body's natural antioxidant defenses (which protect against cellular damage), and improved the rats' ability to move their hind legs.
Practical Takeaway
This early-stage animal study suggests hydrogen-rich saline may have protective effects for acute spinal cord injury, but it is a rat study only and does not yet tell us whether this approach would work in humans. Much more research, including human trials, would be needed before any clinical application could be considered.
Abstract (excerpt)
Hydrogen can relieve tissue-damaging oxidative stress, inflammation and apoptosis. Injection of hydrogen-rich saline is an effective method for transporting molecular hydrogen. We hypothesized that hydrogen-rich saline would promote the repair of spinal cord injury induced by Allen's method…