New Nano-Capsules Deliver Long-Term Hydrogen Therapy for Cell Protection
- Authors
- Lei Kong, Chuanrui Chen, Fangzhi Mou, Yizheng Feng, Ming You, Yixia Yin, Jianguo Guan
- Journal
- Particle & Particle Systems Characterization
- Year
- 2018
- DOI
- 10.1002/ppsc.201800424
- Study Type
- Cell Culture
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- China
- Health Condition
- Oxidative Stress
- Body System
- Cellular
TL;DR
Scientists have created special tiny particles that can safely produce hydrogen in the body for a long time, which helps to protect cells from harmful molecules.
Key Finding
Magnesium particles with mesoporous shells can sustain hydrogen release in physiological conditions for extended periods, providing long-term protection against oxidative damage in cell cultures.
Summary
Researchers created tiny magnesium particles coated with a porous shell that slowly release hydrogen gas when exposed to body fluids. In laboratory cell tests, these particles continuously generated hydrogen over a long period, which helped protect cells from damage caused by harmful molecules called hydroxyl radicals. The thickness of the coating could be adjusted to control how fast the hydrogen was released.
Practical Takeaway
This is early-stage laboratory research in cells only, not human studies. While the sustained-release approach addresses a limitation of previous hydrogen therapies, it remains a proof-of-concept technology. Much more research—including animal and human studies—would be needed before any therapeutic use could be considered.
Abstract
AbstractSustainable supplementation of massive molecular‐H2 is considered to be the most effective therapy for long‐term elimination of excessive hydroxyl radicals (·OH) in vivo, but has not been achieved so far. In this work, it is demonstrated that magnesium microparticles (Mg MPs) coated with mesoporous nanoshells can achieve the long‐term and high‐efficient generation of therapeutic hydrogen in physiological condition for ·OH scavenging. The as‐proposed magnesium@mesoporous SiO2 core–shell microparticles (Mg@p‐SiO2 MPs) are synthesized by developing a modified Stöber method using acetone as the solvent, and they exhibit shell thickness (d)‐dependent H2 release behavior due to the barrier effect of nanoshells on both the occurrence of Mg–water reaction and H2 diffusion. Consequently, they are able to provide vast quantities of H2 molecules dissolved in body fluid with a rate controlled by d over a long period. A simulation model is established which well explains and further predicts the dependence of H2 release behavior on d, and the long‐term protection of cells from oxidative damage by Mg@p‐SiO2 MPs is also experimentally validated. As the H2 concentration and effective duration in medium can be adjusted by dosage and d, Mg@p‐SiO2 MPs are promising for accurate H2 drug delivery in vivo.