Hydrogen Gas Reduces Stress and Anxiety in Mice Study
- Authors
- Qiang Gao, Han Song, Xiao-ting Wang, Ying Liang, Yan-jie Xi, Yuan Gao, Qing-jun Guo, Tyler LeBaron, Yi-xiao Luo, Shuang-cheng Li, Xi Yin, Hai-shui Shi, Yu-xia Ma
- Journal
- Scientific Reports
- Year
- 2017
- DOI
- 10.1038/s41598-017-10362-6
- Study Type
- Mouse
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- China
- Health Condition
- Stress-Related Disorders
- Body System
- Nervous System
TL;DR
Breathing in a mix of hydrogen and oxygen gases helps mice better handle stress and reduces signs of depression and anxiety.
Key Finding
Repeated inhalation of hydrogen-oxygen mixed gas significantly reduced stress-induced depressive and anxiety-like behaviors in mice and lowered stress hormones and inflammatory markers.
Summary
Researchers gave mice a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen gas to breathe and tested whether it could help them cope with stress. Mice that inhaled this gas showed fewer signs of depression and anxiety when exposed to stressful situations, and they had lower levels of stress hormones and inflammatory markers (molecules that indicate inflammation) in their blood. Interestingly, mice that received hydrogen gas during adolescence remained more stress-resilient even into early adulthood, suggesting the effects lasted long-term.
Practical Takeaway
This is an early-stage animal study showing hydrogen gas may help protect against stress-related effects in mice. However, these results are from mice only and have not been tested in humans, so it's too early to draw conclusions about whether hydrogen water or gas would have similar effects on human stress or mental health. More research, including human studies, would be needed before any practical recommendations could be made.
Abstract
The inability to successfully adapt to stress produces pathological changes that can lead to depression. Molecular hydrogen has anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory activities and neuroprotective effects. However, the potential role of molecular hydrogen in stress-related disorders is still poorly understood. The present study aims to investigate the effects of hydrogen gas on resilience to stress in mice. The results showed that repeated inhalation of hydrogen-oxygen mixed gas [67%:33% (V/V)] significantly decreased both the acute and chronic stress-induced depressive- and anxiety-like behaviors of mice, assessed by tail suspension test (TST), forced swimming test (FST), novelty suppressed feeding (NSF) test, and open field test (OFT). ELISA analyses showed that inhalation of hydrogen-oxygen mixed gas blocked CMS-induced increase in the serum levels of corticosterone, adrenocorticotropic hormone, interleukin-6, and tumor necrosis factor-α in mice exposed to chronic mild stress. Finally, inhalation of hydrogen gas in adolescence significantly increased the resilience to acute stress in early adulthood, which illustrates the long-lasting effects of hydrogen on stress resilience in mice. This was likely mediated by inhibiting the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and inflammatory responses to stress. These results warrant further exploration for developing molecular hydrogen as a novel strategy to prevent the occurrence of stress-related disorders.