Hydrogen Water Helps Patient with Severe Transplant Complication
- Authors
- Li-Ren Qian, Jian-Liang Shen
- Journal
- Medical Gas Research
- Year
- 2016
- DOI
- 10.4103/2045-9912.191366
- Study Type
- Human
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- China
- Health Condition
- Chronic Graft-versus-Host Disease
- Body System
- Immune System
TL;DR
Drinking water enriched with molecular hydrogen may be a safe and effective treatment for a severe transplant complication called chronic graft-versus-host-disease.
Key Finding
A single patient with severe chronic graft-versus-host-disease showed improvement after drinking hydrogen-rich water, suggesting molecular hydrogen may have therapeutic potential for this condition.
Summary
This report describes one patient with severe chronic graft-versus-host-disease (a serious complication that can occur after bone marrow transplants, where the transplanted cells attack the patient's own body) who improved after drinking hydrogen-rich water. The researchers chose to test this approach because molecular hydrogen (a gas) has shown anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties in laboratory studies, and chronic graft-versus-host-disease involves harmful inflammation and scarring.
Practical Takeaway
This is a case report of one patient, not a controlled clinical trial, so it provides only preliminary evidence. While the result is encouraging, much larger and more rigorous studies would be needed to determine whether hydrogen-rich water is truly effective for graft-versus-host-disease or whether the improvement occurred for other reasons. Anyone with this condition should discuss any new treatments with their transplant physician.
Abstract
The incidence of chronic graft-versus-host-disease is rising year by year, which has become the leading cause of non-transplantation related death and has become the most difficult complication of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation to deal with. Inflammation and fibrosis play dominant roles in the pathogenesis of chronic graft-versus-host-disease. Studies have shown that molecular hydrogen has anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-fibrosis effects. Therefore, we hypothesized that molecular hydrogen may have therapeutic effects on chronic graft-versus-host-disease. Here, we report a patient with severe chronic graft-versus-host-disease successfully treated by drinking hydrogen rich water which may be a safe and effective method for chronic graft-versus-host-disease.