日本医科大学研究人员经动物实验证明，氢能清除对肌体有害的活性氧，使因脑梗塞造成的脑损伤减半。这项研究成果有助于开发出比现有脑梗塞治疗药物更有效的治疗方法。
活性氧种类很多，日本医科大学太田成男教授等人分析氢对培养细胞的影响时发现，氢能清除一种氧化能力极强、对肌体有害的活性氧———氢氧根离子。活性氧被认为是导致细胞老化的诱因之一。在实验中，研究人员使人为导致脑梗塞的一组实验鼠吸入浓度为2％的氢气，而对另一组不采取任何措施，研究氢气是否可以防止活性氧导致的脑细胞老化死亡。结果显示，吸入氢气的实验鼠脑细胞死亡的数量不到对照组的一半。
原始出处:
Published online: 7 May 2007; | doi:10.1038/nm1577
Hydrogen acts as a therapeutic antioxidant by selectively reducing cytotoxic oxygen radicals
Ikuroh Ohsawa1, Masahiro Ishikawa1, Kumiko Takahashi1, Megumi Watanabe1, 2, Kiyomi Nishimaki1, Kumi Yamagata1, Ken-ichiro Katsura2, Yasuo Katayama2, Sadamitsu Asoh1 & Shigeo Ohta1
1 Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Institute of Development and Aging Sciences, Graduate School of Medicine, Nippon Medical School, 1-396 Kosugi-cho, Nakahara-ku, Kawasaki City 211-8533, Japan.
2 Department of Internal Medicine, Nippon Medical School, 1-1-5 Sendagi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8602, Japan.
Correspondence should be addressed to Shigeo Ohta ohta@nms.ac.jp
Acute oxidative stress induced by ischemia-reperfusion or inflammation causes serious damage to tissues, and persistent oxidative stress is accepted as one of the causes of many common diseases including cancer. We show here that hydrogen (H2) has potential as an antioxidant in preventive and therapeutic applications. We induced acute oxidative stress in cultured cells by three independent methods. H2 selectively reduced the hydroxyl radical, the most cytotoxic of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and effectively protected cells; however, H2 did not react with other ROS, which possess physiological roles. We used an acute rat model in which oxidative stress damage was induced in the brain by focal ischemia and reperfusion. The inhalation of H2 gas markedly suppressed brain injury by buffering the effects of oxidative stress. Thus H2 can be used as an effective antioxidant therapy; owing to its ability to rapidly diffuse across membranes, it can reach and react with cytotoxic ROS and thus protect against oxidative damage.
