Hydrogen Therapy Speeds Recovery from COVID-19 Omicron Variant
The efficacy of hydrogen/oxygen therapy favored the recovery of omicron SARS-CoV-2 variant infection: results of a multicenter, randomized, controlled trial
Research hubs: Respiratory System
- Evidence type
- Randomized controlled trial · Human study
- Authors
- Meng-Meng Shi, Yun-Tian Chen, Xiao-Dan Wang, Yun-Feng Zhang, Ting Cheng, Hui Chen, Feng Sun, Hong Bao, Rong Chen, Wei-Ning Xiong, Yuan-Lin Song, Qing-Yun Li, Jie-Ming Qu
- Journal
- Journal of Clinical Biochemistry and Nutrition
- Year
- 2023
- PMID
- 37970554
- Study Type
- Human
- Participants
- 64
- Delivery
- Gas
- Dose
- hydrogen/oxygen mixed inhalation
- Funding
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Emergency Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Respiratory Infectious Diseases (20dz2261100); Cultivation Project of Shanghai Major Infectious Disease Research Base (20dz2210500); Shanghai Municipal Key Clinical Specialty (shslczdzk02202); Shanghai Top-Priority Clinical Key Disciplines Construction Project (2017ZZ02014)
- Conflicts of interest
- None declared
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Cited by
- 6 (OpenAlex, as of November 2026)
- Country
- China
TL;DR
Breathing a mix of hydrogen and oxygen helped COVID-19 patients recover faster than just breathing oxygen.
Key Finding
Patients with Omicron COVID-19 who inhaled hydrogen/oxygen gas cleared the virus faster and showed greater improvements in inflammation markers and lung healing compared to those receiving oxygen alone.
Summary
Researchers compared hydrogen/oxygen gas inhalation to regular oxygen inhalation in 64 COVID-19 patients infected with the Omicron variant. Patients who received the hydrogen/oxygen mixture cleared the virus faster, showed lower levels of an inflammation marker called IL-6, recovered more immune cells, and had better lung healing compared to those who received oxygen alone.
Practical Takeaway
This small human trial suggests hydrogen/oxygen inhalation may help support recovery from Omicron infection as an add-on treatment, but the study is limited by its modest size and lack of reported duration details. More research is needed before this approach could be recommended for routine use.
Abstract (excerpt)
Clinical studies had found that hydrogen/oxygen mixed inhalation was beneficial to ameliorate the respiratory symptoms in the adjuvant treatment of patients with COVID-19. We aimed to explore the efficacy of hydrogen/oxygen therapy in favoring the recovery of Omicron SARS-CoV-2 variant infection…