Hydrogen Therapy Shows Promise for Diabetes and Metabolic Disease
- Authors
- Fei Xie, Yifei Song, Yang Yi, Xue Jiang, Shiwen Ma, Chen Ma, Junyu Li, Ziyi Zhanghuang, Mengyu Liu, Pengxiang Zhao, Xuemei Ma
- Journal
- Pharmaceuticals
- Year
- 2023
- DOI
- 10.3390/ph16040541
- Study Type
- clinical
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- China
- Health Condition
- Diabetes Mellitus
- Body System
- Endocrine
TL;DR
Scientists found that a simple gas called molecular hydrogen might help treat diseases like diabetes and obesity by reducing harmful inflammation and stress in your body, and they think it could become a real medicine in the future once they do more testing to make sure it actually works.
Key Finding
Molecular hydrogen shows potential as an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent for metabolic diseases through multiple mechanisms including reducing oxidative stress, improving mitochondrial function, and altering gut bacteria composition.
Summary
This review article examines research on molecular hydrogen (H2), a gas that was long thought to be inactive in the body, as a potential treatment for metabolic diseases like diabetes, obesity, and fatty liver disease. Scientists have found evidence that hydrogen may help by reducing oxidative stress (cellular damage from unstable molecules) and inflammation, and by improving how cells produce energy. The authors call for more high-quality clinical studies to determine if hydrogen therapy could eventually be used to treat these conditions in patients.
Practical Takeaway
This is a review article summarizing existing research rather than a new study with results, so it does not provide direct evidence about hydrogen water's effects in humans. While the review suggests hydrogen has therapeutic promise based on laboratory and animal studies, most clinical evidence remains limited. Anyone considering hydrogen therapy should note that high-quality human trials are still needed before definitive health claims can be made.
Abstract
Oxidative stress and chronic inflammation have been implicated in the pathophysiology of metabolic diseases, including diabetes mellitus (DM), metabolic syndrome (MS), fatty liver (FL), atherosclerosis (AS), and obesity. Molecular hydrogen (H2) has long been considered a physiologically inert gas. In the last two decades, accumulating evidence from pre-clinical and clinical studies has indicated that H2 may act as an antioxidant to exert therapeutic and preventive effects on various disorders, including metabolic diseases. However, the mechanisms underlying the action of H2 remain unclear. The purpose of this review was to (1) provide an overview of the current research on the potential effects of H2 on metabolic diseases; (2) discuss the possible mechanisms underlying these effects, including the canonical anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory, and anti-apoptotic effects, as well as suppression of ER stress, activation of autophagy, improvement of mitochondrial function, regulation of gut microbiota, and other possible mechanisms. The potential target molecules of H2 will also be discussed. With more high-quality clinical trials and in-depth mechanism research, it is believed that H2 will eventually be applied to clinical practice in the future, to benefit more patients with metabolic disease.