Hydrogen Gas Protects Kidneys During Heart Surgery in Pigs

TL;DR

Inhaling hydrogen gas during and after pig heart surgery reduced signs of kidney injury.

Key Finding

Pigs that inhaled 4% hydrogen gas during cardiac surgery showed normalized kidney function markers and activation of antioxidant defense pathways, compared to pigs that did not receive hydrogen treatment.

Summary

Researchers tested whether inhaling molecular hydrogen gas could protect the kidneys of pigs undergoing heart surgery. During surgery, the pigs' kidneys showed signs of damage (elevated waste products in the blood). Pigs that received hydrogen gas during surgery showed improvement in these markers, and their kidney tissue showed activation of protective antioxidant systems (mechanisms that fight cellular damage from oxidative stress).

Practical Takeaway

This is an early-stage animal study suggesting hydrogen gas may help protect kidneys during heart surgery by reducing oxidative stress. However, this was only tested in pigs, not humans, so it's unclear whether these results would apply to people. Much more research, including human trials, would be needed before hydrogen could be considered a treatment for surgery-related kidney injury.

Abstract (excerpt)

Cardiac surgery-associated acute kidney injury is a common post-operative complication, mostly due to increasing oxidative stress. Recently, molecular hydrogen (H2 gas) has also been applied to cardiac surgery due to its ability to reduce oxidative stress. We evaluated the potential effect of H2…

Read the full abstract via DOI