Hydrogen Water Helps Remove Toxic Melamine from Body in Mouse Study
- Authors
- Yang-Suk Yoon, Dong-Heui Kim, Soo-Ki Kim, Soon-Bong Song, Young Uh, Dan Jin, Xu-Feng Qi, Yung-Chien Teng, Kyu-Jae Lee
- Journal
- Food and Chemical Toxicology
- Year
- 2011
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.fct.2011.04.033
- Study Type
- Mouse
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- South Korea
- Health Condition
- Melamine Poisoning
- Body System
- Urinary System
TL;DR
Drinking a type of water called electrolyzed reduced water (ERW) helps mice get rid of a harmful chemical called melamine, which they were exposed to through contaminated food.
Key Finding
Mice drinking electrolyzed reduced water showed significantly fewer bladder stones (52.4%) compared to those drinking plain water (38.1%), along with increased urinary crystal precipitation, suggesting enhanced melamine excretion.
Summary
Researchers tested whether electrolyzed reduced water (water treated with electricity to add hydrogen) could help mice exposed to melamine (a toxic chemical) eliminate it from their bodies. Mice that drank this special water showed better weight gain, more immune cells, and fewer bladder stones compared to mice drinking regular water, suggesting the treated water may help the body excrete melamine more effectively.
Practical Takeaway
This is an early-stage animal study showing electrolyzed reduced water may help eliminate melamine from the body. However, results are limited to mice, the study size and duration were not reported, and no human trials have been conducted. Much more research would be needed before any conclusions about human safety or effectiveness could be drawn.
Abstract
Our hypothesis is that the intake of functional water, electrolyzed reduced water (ERW) can excrete melamine in body was evoked by melamine-tainted feed (MTF). To address this issue, we investigated the effect of ERW in MTF-mice model by way of body weight gain, incidence of urinary crystals and bladder stone, biochemical and haematological examination, histopathologic finding of kidney and urinary bladder, and the evaluation of bladder stone. We found that the rate of body weight gain was significantly more increased in MTF+ERW group than MTF+PW group. Accordingly, the number of immunocytes such as leukocyte, neutrophil and monocyte as well as the mean weight of spleen was significantly increased in MTF+ERW group. The incidence of urinary crystals was significantly higher in MTF+ERW group, whereas the incidence of urinary bladder stones was lower in MTF+ERW group (52.4%) than in MTF+PW group (38.1%). Also, urinary crystals were more precipitated in MTF+ERW group than MTF+PW group, and urinary bladder stone consists of 100% melamine. Collectively, our data clearly show that ERW intake is helpful to excrete of melamine in MTF mice model and this is the first report on the melamine excretion and clinically implying the safer fluid remedy for melamine-intoxicated hosts.