Hydrogen Saline Protects Lungs from High Oxygen Damage in Rats
- Authors
- Juan Zheng, Kan Liu, Zhimin Kang, Jianmei Cai, Wenwu Liu, Weigang Xu, Runping Li, Hengyi Tao, John H. Zhang, Xue-Jun Sun
- Journal
- Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine
- Year
- 2010
- Study Type
- Rat
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- China
- Health Condition
- Acute Lung Injury
- Body System
- Respiratory
TL;DR
Breathing in a saline solution saturated with hydrogen gas can reduce lung damage caused by exposure to high levels of oxygen.
Key Finding
In rats exposed to high oxygen levels, hydrogen-enriched saline reduced lung edema (swelling), decreased markers of cell damage, and lowered inflammatory indicators compared to regular saline.
Summary
Researchers exposed rats to very high oxygen levels (which can damage lung tissue) and tested whether salt water containing dissolved hydrogen gas could protect their lungs. Compared to rats that received regular salt water, those given hydrogen-enriched salt water showed less lung swelling, lower levels of cellular damage markers, and reduced signs of inflammation in their lung fluid.
Practical Takeaway
This rat study suggests hydrogen may have antioxidant effects that could protect against oxygen-related lung injury, but it's important to note this is early animal research only. Whether these findings would apply to humans or to hydrogen water consumed orally (rather than injected as saline) remains unknown and would require human studies to determine.
Abstract
Exposure to high oxygen concentrations leads to acute lung injury, including lung tissue and alveolar edema formation, congestion, intra-alveolar hemorrhage, as well as endothelial and epithelial cell apoptosis or necrosis. Several studies have reported that molecular hydrogen is an efficient antioxidant by gaseous rapid diffusion into tissues and cells. Moreover, consumption of water with dissolved molecular hydrogen to a saturated level (hydrogen water) prevents stress-induced cognitive decline in mice and superoxide formation in mice. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of saturated hydrogen saline on pulmonary injury-induced exposure to >98% oxygen at 2.5 ATA for five hours. Adult male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into three groups: control group, saline group and saturated hydrogen saline group. Hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining were used to examine histological changes. The lung wet to dry (W/D) weight ratio was calculated. The concentration of protein and total cell counts in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) were measured. Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in serum and BALF were measured by spectrophotometer. The light microscope findings showed that saturated hydrogen saline reduced the impairment when compared with the saline group: Saturated hydrogen saline decreased lung edema, reduced LDH activity in BALF and serum, and decreased total cells and protein concentration in BALF. These results demonstrated that saturated hydrogen saline alleviated hyperoxia-induced pulmonary injury, which was partly responsible for the inhibition of oxidative damage.