Hydrogen Water Protects Heart Function in Diabetic Mice
- Authors
- Feng Wu, Yihua Qiu, Guangming Ye, Hede Luo, Junsong Jiang, Feng Yu, Wei Zhou, Shuai Zhang, Jinzhong Feng
- Journal
- Cardiovascular Pathology
- Year
- 2015
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.carpath.2015.04.008
- Study Type
- Mouse
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- China
- Health Condition
- Diabetic Cardiomyopathy
- Body System
- Cardiovascular
TL;DR
Drinking hydrogen-enriched water helped improve heart health in diabetic mice without changing their blood sugar levels.
Key Finding
Hydrogen water improved heart function in diabetic mice by reducing inflammation and oxidative stress, even though it did not lower blood sugar levels.
Summary
Researchers gave diabetic mice hydrogen-enriched water for 8 weeks to see if it could help protect their hearts. While the hydrogen water didn't lower blood sugar levels, it did reduce heart damage, improve how well the heart pumped blood, and decreased harmful inflammation and oxidative stress (cellular damage from unstable molecules) in the heart tissue.
Practical Takeaway
This early-stage mouse study suggests hydrogen water may help protect the heart from diabetes-related damage through anti-inflammatory mechanisms. However, this is animal research only—human studies would be needed to determine if these effects apply to people with diabetes. The results are preliminary and should not be considered a treatment recommendation.
Abstract
Introduction: Diabetic cardiomyopathy, a disorder of the heart muscle in diabetic patients, is one of the major causes of heart failure. The aim of present study was to investigate the therapeutic effect of hydrogen molecule on streptozotocin-induced diabetic cardiomyopathy in mice. Methods: Diabetes was induced in adult male mice by consecutive peritoneal injection of streptozotocin (50 mg/kg/day) for 5 days. Then, they were treated with hydrogen water (1.3±0.2 mg/l) for 8 weeks (four groups, n=83-88 in each group). Results: Although treatment of diabetic mice with hydrogen water did not significantly affect blood glucose level, it significantly attenuated cardiac hypertrophy and reduced expression of atrial natriuretic factor and β-myosin heavy chain; it alleviated cardiac fibrosis and reduced expression of collagen I and III, transforming growth factor beta, alpha-smooth muscle actin, and osteopontin; it reduced cardiac caspase-3 activity and ratio of bax/bcl-2. Importantly, hydrogen water treatment improved cardiac function in streptozotocin-diabetic mice. Furthermore, it was found that hydrogen water treatment abated oxidative stress, suppressed inflammation, and attenuated endoplasmic reticulum stress in the hearts of streptozotocin-diabetic mice. In addition, hydrogen water treatment suppressed activation of Jun NH2-terminal kinase and p38 mitogen activated protein kinase signaling and nuclear factor κB signaling in the hearts of streptozotocin-diabetic mice. Conclusion: Treatment with hydrogen molecule attenuated cardiac dysfunction in streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice, which was independent of glycemic control. Summary: Treatment with hydrogen molecule attenuated cardiac dysfunction in streptozotocin-induced type 1 diabetic mice. Molecular hydrogen could thus be envisaged as a nutritional countermeasure for diabetic cardiomyopathy.