Hydrogen Water Prevents Liver Disease That Leads to Cancer in Rats
- Authors
- Chaofu Li, Xing Zhao, Xiaoqiang Gu, Ying Chen, Guanzhen Yu
- Journal
- Frontiers in Pharmacology
- Year
- 2021
- DOI
- 10.3389/fphar.2021.632045
- Study Type
- Rat
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- China
- Health Condition
- Cholangiofibrosis
- Body System
- Hepatic
TL;DR
Drinking hydrogen-rich water can help prevent liver damage and a condition that can lead to liver cancer, while also improving overall quality of life.
Key Finding
In rats with chemically-induced liver damage, hydrogen-rich water reduced the incidence of cholangiofibrosis lesions from 100% to 57% and reduced tumor development from 100% to 12.5%.
Summary
Researchers gave rats a chemical that damages the liver and causes a condition called cholangiofibrosis (scarring of bile ducts that can lead to cancer). Some rats also received hydrogen-rich water throughout the study. Rats drinking hydrogen-rich water had fewer liver lesions and less tumor development compared to rats that didn't receive it, and the hydrogen water appeared safe and improved their quality of life.
Practical Takeaway
This is an animal study showing hydrogen-rich water may help prevent liver scarring and tumor formation in rats exposed to liver toxins. However, these results cannot be directly applied to humans yet—further research in human subjects would be needed to determine if similar benefits occur in people. The study suggests a potential mechanism involving changes to gut bacteria and metabolism, but this remains preliminary evidence.
Abstract
Background: Cholangiofibrosis is a controversial intrahepatic cholangial lesion that precedes the development of cholangiocarcinoma. Here, we demonstrate that molecular hydrogen (H2) can be used to effectively prevent cholangiofibrosis.Methods: The safety and quality of life (QOL) of rats was firstly evaluated. H2 was administered to rats subjected to thioacetamide (TAA)-induced cholangiofibrosis throughout the whole process. Then, rats were administrated with TAA for 3 months and then followed by H2 intervention. Rat livers were harvested and assessed by light microscopy and convolutional neural network. RNA-seq was performed to analyze the genetic changes in these animal models.Results: Continuous use of H2-rich water was safe and improved QOL.The incidence and average number of cholangiofibrosis in the liver were higher in the TAA group (100%, 12.0 ± 10.07) than that in the H2 group (57.1%, 2.86 ± 5.43). The AI algorithm revealed higher Alesion/Aliver in the TAA group (19.6% ± 9.01) than that in the H2 group (7.54% ± 11.0). RNA-seq analysis revealed that H2 results in a decline in glycolysis. Moreover, in the third experiment, the incidence of microscopic or suspicious tumors and the ratio of liver lesions was decreased after long-term use of H2 (12.5%, 0.57% ± 0.45) compared with untreated group (100%, 0.98% ± 0.73). A number of intestinal microbiota was changed after H2 usage, including clostridiaceae_1, ruminococcus, turicibacter, coriobacteriales, actinobacteria, and firmicutes_bacterium.Conclusion: Hydrogen-rich water protects against liver injury and cholangiofibrosis and improved quality of life partially through regulating the composition of intestinal flora.