Hydrogen Therapy Protects Against Stress-Induced Stomach Ulcers
- Authors
- Xinwei Liu, Zhi Chen, Ningfang Mao, Yang Xie
- Journal
- International Immunopharmacology
- Year
- 2012
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.intimp.2012.04.004
- Study Type
- Rat
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- China
- Health Condition
- Stress-Induced Gastric Ulcers
- Body System
- Digestive System
TL;DR
Hydrogen treatment can significantly reduce stomach damage caused by stress by fighting oxidative stress, inflammation, and cell death.
Key Finding
Hydrogen-rich saline reduced stress-induced stomach ulcer damage in rats by decreasing oxidative stress, suppressing inflammatory pathways, and preventing cell death in the stomach lining.
Summary
This study tested whether hydrogen-rich saline could protect rats from stomach ulcers caused by stress. Researchers induced ulcers through cold stress and gave some rats hydrogen-rich saline before the stress began. They found that hydrogen treatment reduced damage markers in the stomach lining, decreased inflammation, and prevented stomach cells from dying compared to rats that didn't receive hydrogen treatment.
Practical Takeaway
While this rat study suggests hydrogen may have protective effects against stress-related stomach damage through multiple biological mechanisms, these results cannot yet be applied to humans. Human studies would be needed to determine whether hydrogen water or hydrogen-rich saline could provide similar protection in people experiencing stress-related gastric problems.
Abstract
Stress ulceration frequently occurs as a result of major stressful events and hydroxyl radical (⋅OH) is one of the major causative factors for it. Recently, it has been proved that hydrogen, a potent selectively ⋅OH scavenger, can effectively protect animals against ROS-induced tissue damage. In like manner, we hypothesize that hydrogen may have a protective effect against stress ulceration. Gastric ulceration was induced by the method of cold restraint stress. Rats in the hydrogen treatment group received hydrogen-rich saline (10 mL/kg body weight) 5 min before the stress. At 6h post-stress, gastric corpus mucosa was harvested for the measurement of malondialdehyde, protein carbonyl, 8-hydroxy-desoxyguanosine, glutathione, superoxide dismutase, myeloperoxidase, TNF-α, IL-1β and cytokine-induced neutrophils chemoattractant-1. In addition, western blotting was used to determine the expression of p38 MAPK, P-p38 MAPK, P-JNk, JNK, Bcl-xl, Bax and cleaved caspase-3. Nuclear translocation of NF-κB was assessed by electrophoretic mobility shift assay. Gastric mucosa structure and mucosal epithelial cells apoptosis were measured at 12h post-stress. Our present study showed that hydrogen treatment lessened the stress-induced lipid peroxidation, protein carbonyl and DNA oxidant and improved tissue antioxidant potential. In addition, hydrogen mitigated inflammatory response and neutrophils infiltration with suppressing the activity of P-p38 MAPK, P-JNk and NF-κB. Importantly, hydrogen ameliorated gastric mucosa damage with preventing cell apoptosis. Furthermore, the up-regulation of cleaved caspase-3, Bax and down-regulation of Bcl-xl expression were blocked by hydrogen treatment. In conclusion, hydrogen treatment effectively ameliorated stress-associated gastric mucosa damage via its anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic effects.