Hydrogen inhalation ameliorates ventilator-induced lung injury
Huang CS et al. · Crit Care. 2010;14(6):R234.
What kind of evidence is this?
Preclinical
Randomized mouse mechanical-ventilation experiments using high- and lower-tidal-volume protocols
Respiratory health
Other forms
Not reported in this record.
Not reported in this record.
Methods at a glance
Male C57BL/6 mice undergoing tracheostomy and mechanical ventilation
High-tidal-volume and sham groups n=8/group; lower-tidal-volume groups n=6/group, with some assays using n=4
2 hours in the high-tidal-volume experiment and 5 hours in the lower-tidal-volume experiment
2% H₂ in air delivered by ventilator or chamber
Low-concentration H₂ added to air — not Brown’s gas.
2% H₂ in air; FiO₂ 0.21; tidal volume 30 mL/kg for 2 hours or 10 mL/kg for 5 hours.
No fixed H₂ flow in mL/min was reported; delivery depended on the ventilator or spontaneous chamber breathing.
FiO₂ was 21%; no fixed O₂ flow in mL/min was reported.
2% nitrogen in air under the same ventilation or sham conditions
Outcomes and reported result
Lung injury and edema, gas exchange, inflammatory mediators, lipid peroxidation, apoptosis and gene expression
The article reports less edema, several inflammatory and apoptotic changes and improved gas exchange with H₂. H₂ did not significantly reduce bronchoalveolar total-cell accumulation or leaked protein in the high-tidal-volume protocol.
Allocation, gas composition, ventilator settings, positive and null results, funding and conflicts checked in the open-access full text.
A reported association, difference or mechanism is not automatically a clinical benefit. Null findings, outcome type, study design and precision all matter.
Cautions and applicability
Acute mouse ventilation model with extreme tidal volume in one protocol and many laboratory outcomes.
Ventilator-induced lung injury in mice, not mechanically ventilated patients.
Not reported in this record.
Not reported in this record.
Not reported in this record.
No single-study GRADE certainty rating is assigned. Certainty is assessed by important outcome across a complete eligible evidence set, not by attaching a final grade to one source.
Sources and record status
PMID: 21184683 · DOI: 10.1186/cc9389
Open-access full text is available through PMC and the publisher.
Open-access PMC/publisher full text and PubMed record; no retraction or expression of concern was shown in the checked records on 7 August 2026.
2026-08-10