Hydrogen-Releasing Metal Alloys Kill Cancer Cells While Sparing Healthy Ones
- Authors
- Akio Kagawa, Keishi Katsura, Masayuki Mizumoto, Yutaka Tagawa, Yoichi Masiko
- Journal
- Materials Science Forum
- Year
- 2012
- DOI
- 10.4028/www.scientific.net/MSF.706-709.520
- Study Type
- Cell Culture
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- Japan
- Health Condition
- Cancer
- Body System
- Whole Body
TL;DR
A special metal alloy can release hydrogen that kills cancer cells without harming normal cells, and this effect is limited to a small area close to the alloy.
Key Finding
Hydrogen released from palladium-nickel alloys selectively killed cancer cells in laboratory cultures while leaving normal cells unharmed, with the effect limited to areas near the alloy surface.
Summary
Researchers tested whether hydrogen gas released from a special metal alloy (made of palladium and nickel) could affect cancer cells and normal cells grown in laboratory dishes. They found that the hydrogen killed cancer cells near the alloy surface but did not harm normal cells. The effect only worked within a few millimeters of the alloy, and appeared to be caused by hydrogen radicals (highly reactive forms of hydrogen) released from the metal surface.
Practical Takeaway
This is very early laboratory research using cultured cells, not human studies, so it cannot yet inform real-world hydrogen water use. The hydrogen was delivered directly from a metal alloy surface rather than through drinking hydrogen water, making it unclear whether these findings would apply to hydrogen consumed as a beverage. Much more research would be needed to determine if this approach could ever be developed into a cancer treatment.
Abstract
The influence of discharged hydrogen from Pd-Ni based hydrogen storage alloys (HSAs) on cultured cells has been investigated. The susceptibility of cells to discharged hydrogen varied with the kind of cells. No influence was seen in the normal cells, while an effect of killing cancer cells was observed near the HAS and the region where the cell death was observed was limited to an extent of a few mm from the alloy surface. In order to examine the cause of the effects, the amount of gaseous hydrogen and hydrogen radicals released from the alloy surface and pH change of physiological saline aq. solution were measured. The amount of gaseous hydrogen and hydrogen radicals increased with time. The pH of physiological saline aq. solution decreased first and then recovered to the starting value after about 50h. The pH change behavior varied with alloy composition. It is inferred that the hydrogen radicals formed on alloy surface may bring a characteristic change in the cancer cells, leading to the effect of discharged hydrogen on cancer cell death.