Tiny Hydrogen Robots Show Promise for Treating Stroke in Rats
- Authors
- Shuanghu Wang, Kun Liu, Quan Zhou, Cong Xu, Junbin Gao, Zhen Wang, Fei Wang, Bin Chen, Yicheng Ye, Juanfeng Ou, Jiamiao Jiang, Daniela A. Wilson, Shuwen Liu, Fei Peng, Yingfeng Tu
- Journal
- Advanced Functional Materials
- Year
- 2021
- DOI
- 10.1002/adfm.202009475
- Study Type
- Rat
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- China
- Health Condition
- Acute Ischemic Stroke
- Body System
- Nervous System
TL;DR
Tiny self-powered, biodegradable robots were created to actively deliver healing hydrogen gas directly to the brains of rats with stroke, reducing brain damage and improving memory and learning.
Key Finding
Hydrogen-powered microswimmers injected into the brains of stroke-affected rats significantly reduced brain tissue damage and improved neurological function compared to untreated controls.
Summary
Researchers created tiny biodegradable particles powered by hydrogen gas that can be injected directly into the brain to treat stroke. In a rat stroke model, these hydrogen-powered microswimmers reduced brain damage and improved memory and learning by neutralizing harmful molecules called reactive oxygen species that accumulate after a stroke.
Practical Takeaway
This is early-stage research conducted only in rats, not humans. While the results are promising for a novel stroke treatment approach, it remains in the laboratory phase and would require extensive human testing before any clinical application. The study does not directly address hydrogen water consumption.
Abstract
Biodegradable microswimmers offer great potential for minimally invasive targeted therapy due to their tiny scale, multifunctionality, and versatility. However, most of the reported systems focused on the proof‐of‐concept on the in vitro level. Here, the successful fabrication of facile hydrogen‐powered microswimmers (HPMs) for precise and active therapy of acute ischemic stroke is demonstrated. The hydrogen (H2) generated locally from the designed magnesium (Mg) microswimmer functions not only as a propellant for motion, but also as an active ingredient for reactive oxygen species (ROS) and inflammation scavenging. Due to the continuous detachment of the produced H2, the motion of the microswimmers results in active H2 delivery that allows for enhanced extracellular and intracellular reducibility. With the help of a stereotaxic apparatus device, HPMs were injected precisely into the lateral ventricle of middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) rats. By scavenging ROS and inflammation via active H2, MCAO rats exhibit significant decrease in infarct volume, improved spatial learning and memory capability with minimal adverse effects, demonstrating efficient efficacy on anti‐ischemic stroke. The as‐developed HPMs with excellent biocompatibility and ROS scavenging capability holds great promise for the treatment of acute ischemic stroke or other oxidative stress induced diseases in clinic in the near future.