Hydrogen-Rich Water Lowers Blood Pressure in Mice Study
- Authors
- Qian Sun, Fan Xin, Xinan Wen, Chan Lu, Ronghe Chen, Guohong Ruan
- Journal
- Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity
- Year
- 2018
- DOI
- 10.1155/2018/2917387
- Study Type
- Mouse
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- China
- Health Condition
- Hypertension
- Body System
- Cardiovascular
TL;DR
Drinking filtered water may help lower high blood pressure in mice by reducing oxidative stress and inflammation.
Key Finding
Filtered water reduced blood pressure in hypertensive mice and suppressed oxidative stress and inflammatory markers, partly by blocking a cellular signaling pathway called NF-κB.
Summary
Researchers gave mice a chemical to induce high blood pressure, then treated some with filtered water (which contains hydrogen and minerals like calcium and magnesium) while others received regular or tap water. Filtered water reduced blood pressure in the hypertensive mice and lowered markers of cellular damage (oxidative stress) and inflammation in their blood and kidneys.
Practical Takeaway
This is an early-stage animal study suggesting filtered water's hydrogen and mineral content may help counteract high blood pressure through antioxidant and anti-inflammatory mechanisms. However, results in mice do not automatically translate to humans, and the study does not isolate which components (hydrogen, calcium, magnesium, or others) were responsible for the effects. Human studies would be needed to determine if these findings apply to people with hypertension.
Abstract
Oxidative stress and inflammation play an important role in hypertensive animals and patients. Hydrogen plays a role of antioxidation and anti-inflammation. Calcium and magnesium play an important role in reducing hypertension and antioxidant. Filtered water contains abundant hydrogen and a large number of other essential elements of the human body. We investigated the protective effects of filtered water on hypertensive mice. To establish hypertension model, ICR mice were administered with N-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) hydrochloride 64 mg/kg per day for 1 month. The hypertensive mice were, respectively, administered with pure water, tap water, and filtered water for 2 months. Lipid peroxidation, antioxidant enzymatic activity, endothelin-1 (ET-1), angiotensin II (Ang II), and proinflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β) were assessed. Expressions of phosphorylated NF-κB P65 in the kidney were analyzed by western blot. qRT-PCR analysis was adopted to determine the expression levels of the proinflammatory cytokines and NF-κB P65. The results demonstrated that filtered water can reduce the blood pressure. Filtered water treatment restored the activity of antioxidant enzymes, downregulated ET-1, and Ang II in the serum of mice. Filtered water treatment suppressed proinflammatory cytokines and decreased the mRNA expression of TNF-α, IL-6, IL-1β, and NF-κB P65. Consumption of filtered water inhibited the expression of NF-κB P65. This suggests that filtered water can reduce the blood pressure. The protection mechanisms include downregulating oxidative stress and inhibiting inflammation, which is partly due to the inhibition of the NF-κB signaling pathway.