Hydrogen Gas Protects Lung Transplants from Damage in Rats
- Authors
- Tomohiro Kawamura, Chien-Sheng Huang, Ximei Peng, Kosuke Masutani, Norihisa Shigemura, Timothy R. Billiar, Meinoshin Okumura, Yoshiya Toyoda, Atsunori Nakao
- Journal
- Surgery
- Year
- 2011
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.surg.2011.05.019
- Study Type
- Rat
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- United States
- Health Condition
- Lung Transplant Complications
- Body System
- Respiratory
TL;DR
Breathing in hydrogen gas can protect lung transplants from damage in rats.
Key Finding
Inhaled hydrogen gas given to organ donors before lung transplantation significantly protected the donated lungs from damage caused by the transplant process, with improvements in gas exchange and reduced inflammatory markers.
Summary
Researchers tested whether giving donors inhaled hydrogen gas before lung transplantation could protect the donated lungs from damage. In a rat transplant model, donor lungs were exposed to either regular air or air with 2% hydrogen for 3 hours before removal and transplantation. Lungs from donors who received hydrogen showed better function after transplant and had less inflammation and cell death compared to lungs from donors who received regular air.
Practical Takeaway
This is an early-stage animal study suggesting hydrogen gas may have protective effects for organ transplantation, but it was conducted only in rats and tested a specific medical application (donor pretreatment before surgery). Much more research, including human studies, would be needed before this approach could be considered for clinical use.
Abstract
Because inhaled hydrogen provides potent anti-inflammatory and antiapoptotic effects against acute lung injury, we hypothesized that treatment of organ donors with inhaled hydrogen during mechanical ventilation would decrease graft injury after lung transplantation. Orthotopic left lung transplants were performed using a fully allogeneic Lewis to Brown Norway rat model. The donors were exposed to mechanical ventilation with 98% oxygen plus 2% nitrogen or 2% hydrogen for 3 h prior to harvest, and the lung grafts underwent 4 h of cold storage in Perfadex (Vitrolife, Göteborg, Sweden). The graft function, histomorphologic changes, and inflammatory reactions were assessed. The combination of mechanical ventilation and prolonged cold ischemia resulted in marked deterioration of gas exchange when the donors were ventilated with 2% nitrogen/98% oxygen, which was accompanied by upregulation of proinflammatory cytokines and proapoptotic molecules. These lung injuries were attenuated significantly by ventilation with 2% hydrogen. Inhaled hydrogen induced heme oxygenase-1, an antioxidant enzyme, in the lung grafts prior to implantation, which might contribute to protective effects afforded by hydrogen. Preloaded hydrogen gas during ventilation prior to organ procurement protected lung grafts effectively from ischemia/reperfusion-induced injury in a rat lung transplantation model.