Hydrogen Water Reduces Heart Problems in Rats with High Blood Pressure
- Authors
- Chufeng Wang, Zezheng Pan
- Journal
- Journal of International Medical Research
- Year
- 2020
- DOI
- 10.1177/0300060520936415
- Study Type
- Rat
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- China
- Health Condition
- Cardiac Hypertrophy
- Body System
- Cardiovascular
TL;DR
A solution containing high levels of hydrogen can reduce heart enlargement and lower the risk of irregular heartbeats in rats.
Key Finding
Hydrogen-rich saline reduced heart enlargement, atrial scarring, and irregular heartbeat episodes in rats with pressure-induced cardiac hypertrophy, apparently by suppressing the JAK-STAT signaling pathway.
Summary
Researchers gave rats with enlarged hearts (caused by high blood pressure) hydrogen-rich saline—a salt solution containing dissolved hydrogen gas. Compared to untreated rats, those receiving hydrogen-rich saline had smaller hearts, less scarring in the heart tissue, and fewer irregular heartbeats. The effect appeared to work by reducing activity in a cellular pathway called JAK-STAT that drives heart damage.
Practical Takeaway
This is early-stage animal research showing hydrogen-rich saline may help prevent heart damage from high blood pressure. However, the study was conducted only in rats, so it's unclear whether these effects would occur in humans. Much more research, including human trials, would be needed before hydrogen water could be considered a treatment for heart conditions.
Abstract
Objective To investigate if hydrogen-rich saline (HRS), which has been shown to have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, could mitigate cardiac remodelling and reduce the incidence of atrial fibrillation (AF) in the rat model of cardiac hypertrophy. Methods Pressure overload was induced in rats by abdominal aortic constriction (AAC). The animals were separated into four groups: sham; AAC group; AAC plus low dose HRS (LHRS); AAC plus high dose HRS (HHRS). The sham and AAC groups received normal saline intraperitoneally and the LHRS and HHRS groups received 3 or 6 ml/kg HRS daily for six weeks, respectively. In vitro research was also performed using cardiotrophin-1 (CT-1)-induced hypertrophy of cultured neonatal rat cardiomyocytes. Results Cardiac hypertrophy was successfully induced by AAC and low and high dose HRS mitigated the pressure overload as shown by lower heart and atrial weights in these treatment groups. AF incidence and duration of the HRS groups were also significantly lower in the HRS groups compared with the AAC group. Atrial fibrosis was also reduced in the HRS groups and the JAK-STAT signalling pathway was down-regulated. In vitro experiments showed that hydrogen-rich medium mitigated the CT-1-induced cardiomyocyte hypertrophy with a similar effect as the JAK specific antagonists AG490. Conclusions HRS was found to mitigate cardiac hypertrophy induced by pressure overload in rats and reduce atrial fibrosis and AF which was possibly achieved via inhibition of the JAK-STAT signalling pathway.