Hydrogen Gas Protects Newborn Brains as Well as Cooling Therapy
- Authors
- Emma Balog, Gábor Remzső, Valéria Tóth-Szűki, Éva Rózsa, Viktória Kovács, Ferenc Domoki
- Journal
- Antioxidants
- Year
- 2025
- DOI
- 10.3390/antiox14121405
- Study Type
- Pig
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- Hungary
- Health Condition
- Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy
- Body System
- Nervous System
TL;DR
Inhaled hydrogen protected brain tissue and improved brain function in newborns after oxygen deprivation, with neuroprotective effects comparable to therapeutic hypothermia.
Key Finding
Inhaled hydrogen gas provided similar brain protection to therapeutic cooling in newborn pigs with oxygen deprivation injury, particularly in preventing damage to the thalamus.
Summary
Researchers tested whether inhaled hydrogen gas could protect newborn pig brains from damage caused by lack of oxygen and blood flow (a condition called hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy). They compared hydrogen gas treatment to therapeutic cooling, the current standard treatment. Both treatments reduced brain injury in a specific brain region called the thalamus, though hydrogen gas delayed seizures while cooling eliminated them. Hydrogen gas also produced different electrical activity patterns in the brain compared to cooling.
Practical Takeaway
This animal study suggests hydrogen gas may have potential as a neonatal brain injury treatment, but it is very early research conducted only in pigs. Therapeutic cooling remains the established clinical standard. Any human application would require extensive additional testing before clinical use could be considered.
Abstract
Neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) remains a major cause of neonatal mortality and long-term disability, despite therapeutic hypothermia (TH) treatment, underscoring the need for further preclinical research. In the present study, we compared the neuroprotection afforded by TH and inhaled molecular hydrogen (H2) treatment in a translational newborn pig HIE model. Following 20 min of asphyxia induced by a hypoxic/hypercapnic gas mixture, piglets were reoxygenated and monitored for 48 h. Animals were randomly assigned to normothermia, continuous H2 ventilation (2.1%), or TH (33.5 °C for 37 h followed by slow rewarming) groups. Physiological parameters, electroencephalography (EEG), visual evoked potentials (VEPs), and neuropathology were assessed. TH eliminated post-asphyxia seizures and improved VEP latency, while H2 delayed seizure onset and increased quantitative EEG markers of signal complexity. Neuropathology revealed severe thalamic injury in normothermic controls, which was significantly attenuated by both H2 and TH, while neocortical, hippocampal, and basal ganglia injury was less extensive and not significantly altered by either of the neuroprotective interventions. These findings demonstrate that continuous H2 inhalation provides neuroprotection in HIE comparable to TH, particularly in the thalamus. H2 also exerts distinct electrophysiological effects, suggesting its therapeutic potential as a treatment for neonatal HIE.