Hydrogen Gas Protects Lungs and Improves Survival in Sepsis Study
- Authors
- Yingxue Bian, Chao Qin, Yuchang Xin, Yang Yu, Hongguang Chen, Guolin Wang, Keliang Xie, Yonghao Yu
- Journal
- Shock
- Year
- 2018
- DOI
- 10.1097/SHK.0000000000000927
- Study Type
- Mouse
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- China
- Health Condition
- Sepsis
- Body System
- Respiratory
TL;DR
Breathing in hydrogen gas improved survival and reduced lung damage in mice with sepsis, potentially by affecting proteins related to muscle function, oxygen use, and blood clotting.
Key Finding
Hydrogen gas inhalation improved survival rates and reduced bacterial burden in septic mice while decreasing lung injury through changes in 192 different proteins involved in oxygen transport, blood clotting, and cell communication.
Summary
Researchers studied whether inhaling hydrogen gas could help mice with sepsis (a severe infection that damages the lungs). They found that mice given hydrogen gas had better survival rates, fewer bacteria in their blood and lungs, and less lung damage than untreated mice. By analyzing thousands of proteins in the lungs, the researchers identified specific molecular changes that may explain how hydrogen gas protects against sepsis-related lung injury.
Practical Takeaway
This is an early-stage animal study showing hydrogen gas may help protect lungs during severe infection, but it was only tested in mice. Much more research, including human trials, would be needed before any conclusions could be drawn about hydrogen gas as a sepsis treatment in people.
Abstract
Sepsis-associated acute lung injury (ALI), which carries a high morbidity and mortality in patients, has no effective therapeutic strategies to date. Our group has already reported that hydrogen gas (H2) exerts a protective effect against sepsis in mice. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying H2 treatment are not fully understood. This study investigated the effects of H2 on lung injuries in septic mice through the isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation (iTRAQ)-based quantitative proteomic analysis. Male ICR mice used in this study were subjected to cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) or sham operation. And 2% H2 was inhaled for 1 h beginning at 1 and 6 h after sham or CLP operation. The iTRAQ-based liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) analysis was preformed to investigate lung proteomics. Sepsis-challenged animals had decreased survival rate, as well as had increased bacterial burden in blood, peritoneal lavage, and lung sample, which were significantly ameliorated by H2 treatment. Moreover, a total of 4,472 proteins were quantified, and 192 differentially expressed proteins were related to the protective mechanism of H2 against sepsis. Functional enrichment analysis showed that H2-related differential proteins could be related to muscle contraction, oxygen transport, protein synthesis, collagen barrier membranes, cell adhesion, and coagulation function. These proteins were significantly enriched in four signaling pathways, and two of which are associated with coagulation. In addition, H2 alleviates ALI in septic mice through downregulating the expression of Sema 7A, OTULIN, and MAP3K1 as well as upregulating the expression of Transferrin. Thus, our findings provide an insight into the mechanism of H2 treatment in sepsis by proteomic approach, which may be helpful to the clinic application of H2 in patients with sepsis.