Hydrogen Water Shows Promise for Preventing Preeclampsia in Pregnancy
- Authors
- Takafumi Ushida, Tomomi Kotani, Hiroyuki Tsuda, Kenji Imai, Tomoko Nakano, Shima Hirako, Yumiko Ito, Hua Li, Yukio Mano, Jingwen Wang, Rika Miki, Eiko Yamamoto, Akira Iwase, Yasuko K. Bando, Masaaki Hirayama, Kinji Ohno, Shinya Toyokuni, Fumitaka Kikkawa
- Journal
- Free Radical Biology and Medicine
- Year
- 2016
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2016.10.491
- Study Type
- Rat
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- Japan
- Health Condition
- Preeclampsia
- Body System
- Cardiovascular
TL;DR
Drinking hydrogen-enriched water reduced high blood pressure and other harmful effects in a rat model of preeclampsia, suggesting it could help prevent this pregnancy complication.
Key Finding
Hydrogen water administration reduced high blood pressure, improved kidney function, and decreased harmful oxidative stress markers in pregnant rats with preeclampsia-like symptoms.
Summary
Researchers tested whether hydrogen-enriched water could help prevent preeclampsia (a dangerous pregnancy condition involving high blood pressure and protein in urine) in rats. They gave pregnant rats hydrogen water starting before inducing preeclampsia-like symptoms. The hydrogen water reduced high blood pressure, improved kidney function, decreased harmful molecules called reactive oxygen species, and improved placental (afterbirth) function compared to rats that didn't receive it.
Practical Takeaway
This early-stage animal study suggests hydrogen water may help prevent preeclampsia by reducing oxidative stress, but these results are from rats only and have not been tested in pregnant women. Much more research, including human clinical trials, would be needed before any conclusions about safety or effectiveness in pregnancy could be drawn.
Abstract
Oxidative stress plays an important role in the pathogenesis of preeclampsia. Recently, molecular hydrogen (H2) has been shown to have therapeutic potential in various oxidative stress-related diseases. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of H2 on preeclampsia. We used the reduced utero-placental perfusion pressure (RUPP) rat model, which has been widely used as a model of preeclampsia. H2 water (HW) was administered orally ad libitum in RUPP rats from gestational day (GD) 12-19, starting 2 days before RUPP procedure. On GD19, mean arterial pressure (MAP) was measured, and samples were collected. Maternal administration of HW significantly decreased MAP, and increased fetal and placental weight in RUPP rats. The increased levels of soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 (sFlt-1) and diacron reactive oxygen metabolites as a biomarker of reactive oxygen species in maternal blood were decreased by HW administration. However, vascular endothelial growth factor level in maternal blood was increased by HW administration. Proteinuria, and histological findings in kidney were improved by HW administration. In addition, the effects of H2 on placental villi were examined by using a trophoblast cell line (BeWo) and villous explants from the placental tissue of women with or without preeclampsia. H2 significantly attenuated hydrogen peroxide-induced sFlt-1 expression, but could not reduce the expression induced by hypoxia in BeWo cells. H2 significantly attenuated sFlt-1 expression in villous explants from women with preeclampsia, but not affected them from normotensive pregnancy. The prophylactic administration of H2 attenuated placental ischemia-induced hypertension, angiogenic imbalance, and oxidative stress. These results support the theory that H2 has a potential benefit in the prevention of preeclampsia.