Hydrogen Gas Improves Donor Lung Function After Cardiac Death
- Authors
- Seokjin Haam, Sungsoo Lee, Hyo Chae Paik, Moo Suk Park, Joo Han Song, Beom Jin Lim, Atsunori Nakao
- Journal
- European Journal of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery
- Year
- 2015
- DOI
- 10.1093/ejcts/ezv057
- Study Type
- Pig
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- South Korea
- Health Condition
- End-stage Lung Disease
- Body System
- Respiratory
TL;DR
Inhaling hydrogen gas during a special lung preservation process improved the condition of pig lungs that were not receiving blood flow, potentially making more lungs suitable for transplant.
Key Finding
Hydrogen gas inhalation during lung preservation reduced blood vessel resistance, airway pressure, and inflammatory markers in damaged donor lungs, suggesting it may improve their quality for transplantation.
Summary
Researchers tested whether hydrogen gas could help preserve pig lungs that were damaged by lack of blood flow (simulating donation after cardiac death). They compared lungs treated with hydrogen gas to untreated lungs during a 4-hour preservation process. Lungs treated with hydrogen gas showed lower resistance to blood flow, lower pressure in the airways, less inflammation, and less overall tissue damage than control lungs.
Practical Takeaway
This is an early-stage animal study (conducted in pigs) exploring hydrogen gas as a potential tool to improve donor lung quality during preservation. While the results are promising for transplant medicine, this research is far from human application and does not indicate any health benefit for hydrogen water consumers.
Abstract
Lung transplantation is a well-established treatment of end-stage lung disease; however, it is limited by a shortage of donor lungs. To overcome this problem, donation after cardiac death (DCD) and ex vivo lung perfusion (EVLP) are being widely investigated. In this study, the effect of hydrogen gas, a known antioxidant, was investigated on a DCD lung model during EVLP. Ten pigs were randomized into either a control (n = 5) or a hydrogen group (n = 5). After fibrillation by electric shock, no further treatment was administered in order to induce warm ischaemic injury for 1 h. The lungs were then procured, followed by 4 h of EVLP. During EVLP, the lungs were ventilated with room air in the control group, and with 2% hydrogen gas in the hydrogen group. Oxygen capacity (OC), pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) and peak airway pressure (PAP) were measured every hour, and the expressions of interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β), IL-6 (IL-6), IL-8 (IL-8) and tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) were evaluated in lung tissue after EVLP. Pathological evaluations were performed using lung injury severity (LIS) scores and the wet/dry ratio was also measured. The OC in the hydrogen group was higher than in the control group, but the difference was not statistically significant (P = 0.0862). PVR (P = 0.0111) and PAP (P = 0.0189) were statistically significantly lower in the hydrogen group. Compared with the control group, the hydrogen group had a statistically significantly lower expression of IL-1β (P = 0.0317), IL-6 (P = 0.0159), IL-8 (P = 0.0195) and TNF-α (P = 0.0159). The LIS scores (P = 0.0358) and wet/dry ratios (P = 0.040) were also significantly lower in the hydrogen group. Hydrogen gas inhalation during EVLP improved the function of DCD lungs, which may increase the utilization of DCD lungs. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery. All rights reserved.