Smart Nanoparticles Release Hydrogen to Fight Infections and Heal Wounds
- Authors
- Siming Yu, Guowei Li, Penghe Zhao, Qikun Cheng, Qianjun He, Dong Ma, Wei Xue
- Journal
- Advanced Functional Materials
- Year
- 2019
- DOI
- 10.1002/adfm.201905697
- Study Type
- Mouse
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- China
- Health Condition
- Bacterial Infections
- Body System
- Integumentary
TL;DR
A new material that releases hydrogen gas and generates heat when exposed to infrared light can effectively kill bacteria and help heal infected wounds.
Key Finding
A laser-activated hydrogen-releasing nanoparticle demonstrated strong antibacterial activity and improved wound healing in infected rat wounds through a combination of hydrogen gas and heat effects.
Summary
Researchers created a tiny nanoparticle made of palladium (a metal) that can release hydrogen gas when exposed to near-infrared laser light. In laboratory and animal tests, this nanoparticle killed bacteria and helped heal infected wounds in rats when combined with the heat from the laser. The study suggests the hydrogen and heat work together to damage bacterial cells and boost the body's natural wound-healing processes.
Practical Takeaway
This is early-stage research using animal models and laboratory conditions, not human studies. While the results are promising for potential future medical treatments of bacterial infections, this nanoparticle technology is not yet available as a consumer product. The study does not provide evidence about hydrogen water or other hydrogen products that consumers can currently purchase.
Abstract
For decades, hydrogen (H2) gas has been recognized as an excellent antioxidant molecule that holds promise in treating many diseases like Alzheimer's, stroke, cancer, and so on. For the first time, active hydrogen is demonstrated to be highly efficient in antibacterial, antibiofilm, and wound‐healing applications, in particular when used in combination with the photothermal effect. As a proof of concept, a biocompatible hydrogen‐releasing PdH nanohydride, displaying on‐demand controlled active hydrogen release property under near‐infrared laser irradiation, is fabricated by incorporating H2 into Pd nanocubes. The obtained PdH nanohydride combines both merits of bioactive hydrogen and photothermal effect of Pd, exhibiting excellent in vitro and in vivo antibacterial activities due to its synergistic hydrogen‐photothermal therapeutic effect. Interestingly, combinational hydrogen‐photothermal treatment is also proved to be an excellent therapeutic methodology in healing rats' wound with serious bacterial infection. Moreover, an in‐depth antibacterial mechanism study reveals that two potential pathways are involved in the synergistic hydrogen‐photothermal antibacterial effect. One is to upregulate bacterial metabolism relevant genes like dmpI, narJ, and nark, which subsequently encode more expression of oxidative metabolic enzymes to generate substantial reactive oxygen species to induce DNA damage and another is to cause severe bacterial membrane damage to release intracellular compounds like DNA.