Protective effect of hydrogen gas therapy after germinal matrix hemorrhage in neonatal rats
Lekic T, Manaenko A, Rolland W, Fathali N, Peterson M, Tang J, Zhang JH. · Acta Neurochirurgica Supplement. 2011;111:237-241.
Study at a glance
Preclinical
Postnatal-day-7 Sprague-Dawley rat pups after stereotactic collagenase-induced germinal matrix hemorrhage.
One hour of 2.9% H₂ inhalation beginning one hour after collagenase infusion. · H₂ concentration was 2.9%. Total gas flow, carrier-gas composition, H₂ mL/min and O₂ mL/min were not reported.
One one-hour exposure; cognition at week 3 and sensorimotor/organ-weight outcomes at week 4.
H₂ improved working memory, spatial learning, sensorimotor tests and brain/spleen/heart measures after hemorrhage. It did not significantly improve water-maze probe spatial memory.
Small neonatal-rat groups, collagenase injury model, single exposure, multiple behavioral endpoints, no acute tissue mechanism and no reported gas flow/carrier composition. NIH support was reported; the article declares no conflicts of interest.
What kind of evidence is this?
Preclinical
Blinded five-group controlled neonatal-rat hemorrhage experiment
Other neurological conditions
Inhaled H₂
Information not yet classified
Some editorial classification fields are still pending. The source-reported outcomes and result are shown below; Hydrogenology does not infer a positive or negative signal from prose automatically.
Methods
Postnatal-day-7 Sprague-Dawley rat pups after stereotactic collagenase-induced germinal matrix hemorrhage.
40 pups assigned to five groups of n=8: naive sham, needle control, needle plus H₂, hemorrhage, or hemorrhage plus H₂.
One one-hour exposure; cognition at week 3 and sensorimotor/organ-weight outcomes at week 4.
One hour of 2.9% H₂ inhalation beginning one hour after collagenase infusion.
Inhaled 2.9% H₂ mixed with air and oxygen — not Brown's gas; the source does not report a 2:1 H₂:O₂ mixture.
H₂ concentration was 2.9%. Total gas flow, carrier-gas composition, H₂ mL/min and O₂ mL/min were not reported.
Not reported — total mixture flow is absent.
O₂ was part of the carrier, but its concentration and mL/min flow were not reported and are not inferred.
Naive sham, needle-only control, needle plus H₂, and hemorrhage without H₂.
Outcomes and reported result
T-maze working memory, water-maze learning and spatial memory, open field, neurological score, foot faults, rotarod, brain atrophy and spleen/heart weight.
H₂ improved working memory, spatial learning, sensorimotor tests and brain/spleen/heart measures after hemorrhage. It did not significantly improve water-maze probe spatial memory.
The complete free PMC chapter was checked for blinded allocation, all five groups, H₂ concentration/timing, missing gas flows, positive and null behavioral findings, funding and available disclosures.
A reported association, difference or mechanism is not automatically a clinical benefit.
Limitations and applicability
Small neonatal-rat groups, collagenase injury model, single exposure, multiple behavioral endpoints, no acute tissue mechanism and no reported gas flow/carrier composition. NIH support was reported; the article declares no conflicts of interest.
Experimental neonatal germinal-matrix hemorrhage in rats; it does not establish treatment for premature infants.
No single-study GRADE certainty rating is assigned. Read how records and evidence assessments are prepared.
Sources and record status
PMID: 21725762 · DOI: 10.1007/978-3-7091-0693-8_40
Free full chapter in PubMed Central.
Complete PMC full article/chapter and PubMed metadata; declarations re-audited 25 August 2026.
25 August 2026
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