Hydrogen Water Protects Transplanted Hearts from Rejection in Rats
Hydrogen-supplemented drinking water protects cardiac allografts from inflammation-associated deterioration
Research hubs: Cardiovascular System
This research was done in animals. Results in animals often don't carry over to people.
- Evidence type
- Animal study (rat)
- Authors
- Kentaro Noda, Yugo Tanaka, Norihisa Shigemura, Tomohiro Kawamura, Yinna Wang, Kosuke Masutani, Xuejun Sun, Yoshiya Toyoda, Christian A. Bermudez, Atsunori Nakao
- Journal
- Transplant International
- Year
- 2012
- PMID
- 22891787
- Study Type
- Rat
- Delivery
- Water (Dissolved)
- Dose
- daily hydrogen-rich water
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Cited by
- 52 (OpenAlex, as of November 2026)
- Country
- United States
TL;DR
Drinking water with added hydrogen gas can help protect heart and aorta transplants in rats from damage caused by inflammation.
Key Finding
Rats that drank hydrogen-rich water experienced significantly prolonged survival of transplanted hearts and reduced damage to transplanted blood vessels compared to those drinking regular water.
Summary
This rat study tested whether drinking water enriched with hydrogen gas could help transplanted hearts survive longer and function better. Researchers transplanted hearts and aortas (large blood vessels) into rats and gave some groups hydrogen-rich water while others drank regular water. Rats drinking hydrogen-rich water had significantly longer-surviving transplants and less damage to blood vessel walls. The study suggests hydrogen may work by reducing immune system inflammation and improving how cells produce energy.
Practical Takeaway
This is early-stage animal research showing hydrogen water may help reduce transplant rejection through anti-inflammatory mechanisms. However, this was conducted only in rats with a specific transplant model, so results cannot yet be applied to human transplant recipients. Human clinical trials would be needed to determine if these findings translate to people.
Abstract (excerpt)
Recent evidence suggests that molecular hydrogen has therapeutic value for disease states that involve inflammation. We hypothesized that drinking hydrogen-rich water (HW) daily would protect cardiac and aortic allograft recipients from inflammation-associated deterioration. Heterotopic heart…