Hydrogen Water Helps Patient with Severe Transplant Complication
Successful treatment with hydrogen rich water in a case of chronic graft-versus-host-disease
Research hubs: Immune System
- Evidence type
- Case report or series · Human study
- Authors
- Li-Ren Qian, Jian-Liang Shen
- Journal
- Medical Gas Research
- Year
- 2016
- PMID
- 27867488
- Study Type
- Human
- Participants
- 1
- Delivery
- Water (Dissolved)
- Dose
- 500 mL hydrogen-rich water three times per day for 3 months
- H₂ concentration
- 0.6 mM
- Funding
- Innovative Cultivation Foundation of Chinese Navy General Hospital (CXPY201603)
- Conflicts of interest
- None declared
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Cited by
- 2 (OpenAlex, as of November 2026)
- Country
- China
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 (excerpt)
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…