Hydrogen Gas Protects Brain Cells in Newborns After Oxygen Loss
Six Hours of Hydrogen Gas Inhalation Has a Neuroprotective Effect Even in Piglets with Delayed Functional Recovery
Research hubs: Brain & Nervous System
This research was done in animals. Results in animals often don't carry over to people.
- Evidence type
- Animal study (pig)
- Authors
- Eri Inoue, Shinji Nakamura, Yuichiro Sugiyama, Toui Tsuchiya, Yasuhiro Nakao, Tsutomu Mitsuie, Takayuki Yokota, Kosuke Sakamoto, Kota Inoue, Yinmon Htun, Aya Morimoto, Ken-ichi Ohta, Hirosuke Morita, Sonoko Kondo, Kosuke Koyano, Aya Tanaka, Takanori Miki, Masaki Ueno, Takashi Kusaka
- Journal
- Developmental Neuroscience
- Year
- 2025
- PMID
- 40623367
- Study Type
- Pig
- Participants
- 17
- Delivery
- Gas
- Dose
- 2.1%-2.7% H2 gas for 6 hours initiated from resuscitation
- H₂ concentration
- 2.1%-2.7% H2 gas
- Duration
- 1 day or less
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- Japan
TL;DR
Inhaling hydrogen gas after birth-related brain injury helped protect neurons in newborn piglets, even if brain activity recovery wasn’t faster
Key Finding
Newborn piglets that inhaled hydrogen gas for 6 hours after oxygen deprivation had significantly more undamaged neurons than untreated piglets, suggesting hydrogen may protect brain cells even when immediate functional recovery is delayed.
Summary
Researchers studied whether breathing hydrogen gas could protect the brain in newborn piglets after a lack of oxygen and blood flow to the brain. Piglets that breathed hydrogen gas for 6 hours after resuscitation had more healthy, undamaged brain cells compared to piglets that did not receive hydrogen, even though both groups showed similar patterns on brain wave measurements.
Practical Takeaway
This is an early-stage animal study in newborn piglets, not humans. While the results suggest hydrogen gas may help preserve brain cells after oxygen deprivation, much more research—including human trials—would be needed before any clinical use. The finding is interesting but preliminary, and should not be interpreted as evidence that hydrogen water or gas would have similar effects in humans.
Abstract (excerpt)
Introduction: Combined therapeutic hypothermia (TH) and 24-h hydrogen (H2) gas inhalation reduces seizure burden in piglets in the latent phase of hypoxic-ischemic (HI) injury versus TH alone. Nevertheless, the effects of H2 gas in the earliest phase following resuscitation were unclear. Methods…