Molecular Hydrogen properties
MOLECULAR HYDROGEN
Molecular Hydrogen as a
new medical therapy
Considered as a physiologically inert gas in mammalian cells, hydrogen is emerging as the fourth signaling gaseous molecule (along with nitric oxide, carbon monoxide, and hydrogen sulfide) able of regulating important biological processes (Zhang et al. 2018). Recent studies in animal models and humans have shown that hydrogen possesses significant antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-apoptotic properties (Yang et al. 2020) and can be used as a safe and effective therapeutic molecule.
H2 is a colorless, tasteless, odorless and nontoxic gas . It has a simple structure, consisting of two hydrogen atoms connected together.
By itself, Hydrogen is the smallest and simplest element, but at the same time functional and extremely widespread throughout the universe.
It accounts for about 89% of all atoms of the planet, and its importance in various chemical processes is as great as that of oxygen.
It is significant not only for the natural world but also for human health. It is safe and nontoxic, has no side effects, does not accumulate, and is expelled from the body simply by exhaling.
Hydrogen is connatural to all humans as it is produced in the gastrointestinal tract in the process of digestion by our microbiota and controls its excessive production of toxic molecules and gases.
In the intestine, it is produced from unabsorbed carbohydrates through the anaerobic metabolism of certain intestinal bacteria containing the enzyme hydrogenase; it is then partially diffused into the bloodstream and released during exhalation.
Molecular hydrogen neutralizes the most damaging free radicals, the more cytotoxic ones, by turning them into water. However, it does not touch “good” free radicals for the body. It provides strong support for antioxidants and our body’s immune system.
Molecular hydrogen is able to penetrate into cells and even mitochondria and protects DNA, RNA, and proteins from harmful oxidative stress.
It provides strong support for antioxidants and our body’s immune system.
Beneficial effects
of hydrogen
At least 5 different levels of benefits of Hydrogen can be outlined.
The Selective and Powerful Antioxidant Activity
Although hydrogen has been known as a gaseous element for about 250 years, its ability to selectively react with hydroxyl radicals to form water was not reported until 2007 in a study published in Nature Medicine (Ohsawa et al. 2007). In addition, unlike traditional antioxidants, hydrogen is able to penetrate very rapidly through cell membranes (including subcellular organelles such as the mitochondria and nucleus) and, by virtue of its small molecular weight and its antioxidant activity that selectively acts only on the most reactive molecules, it does not affect normal cellular metabolic redox reactions (Yang et al. 2018).
Studies have shown that hydrogen can also significantly reduce ROS production by regulating the expression of superoxide dismutase and glutathione, and downregulating the expression of mitochondrial NADPH oxidase.
In addition, this gas protects cells from lipid and fatty acid peroxidation, key components of biological membranes, and is able to stabilize mitochondrial membrane potential, protecting normal cells from death by apoptosis (Iuchi et al. 2019; Ishibashi et al. 2019).
Hydrogen is also able to reduce tissue damage caused by ‘inflammation
This mechanism is expressed not only through its antioxidant capacity (inflammatory processes are in fact closely linked to oxidative stress). In addition, hydrogen may also exert an anti-inflammatory effect by modulating the activity of the immune system, through reducing the infiltration of neutrophils and M1 macrophages, restoring regulatory T cells and an adequate ratio of Th1/Th2 lymphocytes (Xu et al. 2018).
In addition to having a direct anti-inflammatory effect, H2 molecular hydrogen can modulate autophagy by downregulating the expression of NF-κB and MAPK and increasing HO-1 activity (Liu and Zhang 2017; Ohta 2021; Slezak et al. 2021), suggesting that there is an intimate relationship between autophagy, inflammation, and ROS.
The antiapoptotic activity of hydrogen is also mediated by its ability to inhibit the expression of the pro-apoptotic proteins Bax, caspase-3, caspase-8, and caspase-12 and to increase the expression of the anti-apoptotic proteins Bcl-2 and Bcl-xl (Ishibashi et al. 2019).
Cellular ENERGY Boosting
From a therapeutic point of view, exogenous H2 alters mitochondrial bioenergetics and for that reason represents a biomedical agent that could solve energy metabolism issues in many neurodegenerative and cardiometabolic diseases. Experimental results have shown that H2 alleviates mitochondrial dysfunction under conditions of inflammatory stress (Hongguang Chen et al , 2019) but also to raise mitochondrial Coenzyme Q9 levels (Anna Gvozdjáková et al, 2020).
Mode of Administration and
Safety of H2-Therapy.
Studies in both animal models and humans have demonstrated the absence of mutagenic effects and acute and subacute toxicity (assessed in terms of the appearance of clinical symptoms and alterations in urine/blood tests, hematological parameters, and tissue histology) for oral intake of hydrogenated water at a dose of 20 ml/kg/day, equivalent to the intake of 1.2 L/day in a human with a body weight of 60 kg (Saitoh et al. 2010) or direct inhalation as a gas up to 25 L/minute for 24-72 h at 2.4% concentration (Alexis R. Cole et al , Crit Care Explor.2021 Oct; 3(10) ) .
In light of Hydrogen’s ability to react selectively with hydroxyl radicals to form water and to be eliminated through the lungs during exhalation, and since Hydrogen does not bind to any proteins or interfere with the mitochondrial electron chain, the occurrence of side effects related to overdose is highly unlikely.
These capabilities differentiate Hydrogen from other antioxidant molecules, such as vitamin C and E, for which in humans the effective dose far exceeds the maximum tolerated dose.
