Molecular hydrogen suppresses reactive astrogliosis related to oxidative injury during spinal cord injury in rats
Liu FT, Xu SM, Xiang ZH, Li XN, Li J, Yuan HB, Sun XJ. · CNS Neuroscience & Therapeutics. 2014;20(8):778–786.
Study at a glance
Preclinical
Adult male Sprague–Dawley rats with contusive spinal-cord injury and primary cultured rat astrocytes exposed to hydrogen peroxide/ferrous-ion oxidative injury.
Immediately after surgery, hydrogen-rich saline 8 mL/kg was injected intraperitoneally and repeated every 12 hours until sacrifice; cultured astrocytes received hydrogen-rich medium maintained by replacement every six hours. · The cell medium was maintained at 0.6 mmol/L H₂. The article refers to a previous preparation method for the injected saline but does not state a measured saline concentration in this report, so Hydrogenology does not assign one.
Every 12 hours from immediately after surgery through the assigned day-3, day-7 or day-14 assessment; cell treatment lasted 12 hours with medium changed every six hours.
Hydrogen-rich saline reduced the reported inflammatory and astrogliosis measures and improved BBB locomotor scores on days 7 and 14. BBB scores were not reported as improved on day 1. In cells, hydrogen-rich medium had no reported difference from normal medium without oxidative injury, while it reduced oxidative-injury-associated ROS, astrogliosis and cytokines.
Preclinical injury model with multiple tissue and cell outcomes, one sex, short 14-day follow-up and no directly translatable human dose. The injected-saline H₂ concentration is not stated in this article and is not inferred from the 0.6 mmol/L cell-medium concentration. No dedicated funding or conflict-of-interest statement was identified in the checked article, so absence is not inferred.
What kind of evidence is this?
Preclinical
Randomized three-group rat spinal-cord-injury experiment with complementary primary-astrocyte assays
Other neurological conditions
Other forms
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
Adult male Sprague–Dawley rats with contusive spinal-cord injury and primary cultured rat astrocytes exposed to hydrogen peroxide/ferrous-ion oxidative injury.
72 rats randomized to sham plus saline n=24, spinal-cord injury plus saline n=24 and spinal-cord injury plus hydrogen-rich saline n=24. Six rats/group were assigned to each principal in-vivo time-point or functional assessment; cell experiments were repeated at least three times.
Every 12 hours from immediately after surgery through the assigned day-3, day-7 or day-14 assessment; cell treatment lasted 12 hours with medium changed every six hours.
Immediately after surgery, hydrogen-rich saline 8 mL/kg was injected intraperitoneally and repeated every 12 hours until sacrifice; cultured astrocytes received hydrogen-rich medium maintained by replacement every six hours.
H₂ dissolved in saline or culture medium — H₂ only, not Brown's gas and not inhalation.
The cell medium was maintained at 0.6 mmol/L H₂. The article refers to a previous preparation method for the injected saline but does not state a measured saline concentration in this report, so Hydrogenology does not assign one.
Spinal-cord-injury rats receiving normal saline, sham-operated saline controls and matched cell-culture controls.
Outcomes and reported result
Spinal-cord IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α, STAT3/p-STAT3 and GFAP, reactive astrogliosis, BBB locomotor score and cell ROS, hydroxyl radical, hypertrophy, proliferation and cytokine release.
Hydrogen-rich saline reduced the reported inflammatory and astrogliosis measures and improved BBB locomotor scores on days 7 and 14. BBB scores were not reported as improved on day 1. In cells, hydrogen-rich medium had no reported difference from normal medium without oxidative injury, while it reduced oxidative-injury-associated ROS, astrogliosis and cytokines.
The complete open-access article, randomized allocation, assay-specific sample sizes, route and schedule, cell-medium concentration, positive and null findings and article disclosures were checked.
A reported association, difference or mechanism is not automatically a clinical benefit.
Limitations and applicability
Preclinical injury model with multiple tissue and cell outcomes, one sex, short 14-day follow-up and no directly translatable human dose. The injected-saline H₂ concentration is not stated in this article and is not inferred from the 0.6 mmol/L cell-medium concentration. No dedicated funding or conflict-of-interest statement was identified in the checked article, so absence is not inferred.
Contusive spinal-cord injury in rats and oxidative injury in cultured rat astrocytes; it does not establish efficacy or safety in people with spinal-cord injury.
No single-study GRADE certainty rating is assigned. Read how records and evidence assessments are prepared.
Sources and record status
PMID: 24685114 · DOI: 10.1111/cns.12258
Open-access PubMed Central article.
Complete PubMed Central article and PubMed metadata; full-text extraction checked 9 August 2026.
10 August 2026
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