Hydrogen Water Helps Repair Kidney Damage in Diabetic Rats
- Authors
- Olly lndrajani, Ekowati Retnaningtyas, Hendry Santoso, Veronica Verina Setyabudhi
- Journal
- AIP Conference Proceedings
- Year
- 2021
- DOI
- 10.1063/5.0053002
- Study Type
- Rat
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- Indonesia
- Health Condition
- Diabetic Nephropathy
- Body System
- Renal
TL;DR
Drinking hydrogen water improved kidney damage in diabetic rats, especially when combined with the diabetes drug metformin.
Key Finding
Hydrogen water significantly reduced kidney tissue damage in diabetic rats, with effects that were enhanced when combined with the diabetes medication metformin.
Summary
This study tested whether hydrogen water could help repair kidney damage in rats with diabetes. Researchers gave some diabetic rats hydrogen water, some the diabetes drug metformin, some both, and some neither for two weeks. When they examined the rats' kidneys under a microscope, the rats that received hydrogen water showed less kidney damage compared to untreated diabetic rats, and the combination of hydrogen water plus metformin worked even better.
Practical Takeaway
This is early-stage research in animals only, so it cannot yet tell us whether hydrogen water would help people with diabetes-related kidney disease. The study suggests hydrogen water may help protect kidney tissue by reducing oxidative stress, but human studies would be needed before any health recommendations could be made.
Abstract (excerpt)
Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is a renal microvascular abnormality resulting from chronic complications of diabetes mellitus (DM). The main cause of DN is a chronic condition of hyperglycemia which induces oxidative stress in the microvascular system and causes progressive renal failure. Hydrogen water…