Hydrogen Water Reduces Chronic Pain and Depression in Mice Study
- Authors
- Santiago Coral-Pérez, Ignacio Martínez-Martel, Maria Martínez-Serrat, Gerard Batallé, Xue Bai, Christie Leite-Panissi, Olga Pol
- Journal
- Antioxidants
- Year
- 2022
- DOI
- 10.3390/antiox11112153
- Study Type
- Mouse
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- Spain
- Health Condition
- Chronic Inflammatory Pain
- Body System
- Nervous System
TL;DR
Drinking hydrogen-rich water reduced pain, depression, and anxiety in mice with chronic inflammation, while also decreasing signs of inflammation and cell damage.
Key Finding
In mice with chronic inflammatory pain, hydrogen-rich water reduced pain sensitivity and anxiety- and depression-like behaviors while decreasing inflammatory and oxidative stress markers in both peripheral tissues and the brain.
Summary
Researchers gave mice with chronic inflammatory pain (pain caused by long-term inflammation) hydrogen-rich water and measured whether it reduced pain and mood problems. The treatment reduced pain responses, depression-like and anxiety-like behaviors, and decreased markers of cellular damage and inflammation in both the injured paws and a brain region involved in emotion (the amygdala). The benefits appeared to work through the body's natural antioxidant defense systems.
Practical Takeaway
This is an early-stage animal study showing hydrogen-rich water may have pain-relieving and mood-supporting properties in chronic inflammatory pain conditions. However, these results are from mice only and have not been tested in humans, so it's too early to draw conclusions about whether these benefits would apply to people. Further human research would be needed to determine if hydrogen water could be useful for chronic pain management.
Abstract
Chronic inflammatory pain is manifested in many diseases. The potential use of molecular hydrogen (H2) as a new therapy for neurological disorders has been demonstrated. Recent studies prove its analgesic properties in animals with neuropathic pain, but the possible antinociceptive, antidepressant, and/or anxiolytic actions of H2 during persistent inflammatory pain have not been investigated. Therefore, using male mice with chronic inflammatory pain incited by the subplantar injection of complete Freud's adjuvant (CFA), we assessed the actions of hydrogen-rich water (HRW) systemically administered on: (1) the nociceptive responses and affective disorders associated and (2) the oxidative (4-hydroxy-2-nonenal; 4-HNE), inflammatory (phosphorylated-NF-kB inhibitor alpha; p-IKBα), and apoptotic (Bcl-2-like protein 4; BAX) changes provoked by CFA in the paws and amygdala. The role of the antioxidant system in the analgesia induced by HRW systemically and locally administered was also determined. Our results revealed that the intraperitoneal administration of HRW, besides reducing inflammatory pain, also inhibited the depressive- and anxiolytic-like behaviors associated and the over expression of 4-HNE, p-IKBα, and BAX in paws and amygdala. The contribution of the nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2/heme oxygenase 1 and NAD(P)H: quinone oxidoreductase 1 pathway in the analgesic activities of HRW, systemically or locally administered, was also shown. These data revealed the analgesic, antidepressant, and anxiolytic actions of HRW. The protective, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant qualities of this treatment during inflammatory pain were also demonstrated. Therefore, this study proposes the usage of HRW as a potential therapy for chronic inflammatory pain and linked comorbidities.