Hydrogen Gas Protects Against Blood Flow Loss Injury in Mouse Legs
- Authors
- Jian Tong, Yu Zhang, Pan Yu, Jie Liu, XiaoLiang Mei, Jia Meng
- Journal
- Journal of Surgical Research
- Year
- 2021
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.jss.2021.03.046
- Study Type
- Mouse
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- China
- Health Condition
- Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury
- Body System
- Cardiovascular
TL;DR
Breathing in hydrogen gas helps reduce tissue damage and stress in mice legs after blood flow is restored following a blockage.
Key Finding
Hydrogen gas inhalation significantly reduced tissue damage and cell death in mice experiencing hind limb ischemia-reperfusion injury by decreasing oxidative stress and suppressing stress-induced cell death pathways.
Summary
Researchers studied whether inhaling hydrogen gas could protect mouse hind limbs from damage caused by temporarily cutting off blood flow and then restoring it. Mice that received hydrogen gas during the recovery period showed significantly less tissue damage, less cellular stress from harmful molecules called free radicals, and less cell death compared to mice that didn't receive hydrogen. The protective effect appeared to work by reducing stress in a cellular structure called the endoplasmic reticulum and by affecting a specific cellular signaling pathway.
Practical Takeaway
This mouse study provides early evidence that hydrogen gas may have protective effects against tissue damage from interrupted blood flow, but it is a preliminary animal study and does not demonstrate whether these effects would occur in humans. Much more research, including human trials, would be needed before any clinical applications could be considered.
Abstract
Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the mechanism of hydrogen gas on hind limb IR injury. Methods: Male C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into three groups: sham group (Sham), ischemia-reperfusion group (IR), IR plus H2 inhalation group (IR + H2). IR was induced by interrupting hind limb blood flow for 3h, followed by 4h of reperfusion, and H2 was administered by inhalation throughout the reperfusion process. Our data show that H2 inhalation could significantly decrease the infarct-affected tissue volume (P < 0.05), attenuate the degree of morphological injury (P < 0.05), and suppress the level of oxidative stress damage (P < 0.05), compared with the IR group. In exploring the underlying mechanisms, we found that hydrogen could markedly mitigate the degree of IR-induced ER stress and apoptosis (P < 0.05). Additionally, hydrogen could markedly inhibit the IR injury by modulating the phosphorylated c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) signaling pathway (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Taken together, these results revealed the protective effect of hydrogen gas on hind limb ischemia reperfusion injury on mice by attenuating oxidative stress, impairing ER stress and apoptosis, and its ability to modulate JNK signaling pathway. Keywords: ER stress; Hydrogen gas; Ischemia reperfusion injury; JNK pathway; Oxidative stress.