Therapeutic efficacy of infused molecular hydrogen in saline on rheumatoid arthritis: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot study
Ishibashi T et al. · Int Immunopharmacol. 2014;21(2):468–473.
Study at a glance
Human
Adults with rheumatoid arthritis
500 mL H₂-dissolved saline by intravenous drip daily · 1 ppm dissolved H₂.
Daily for 5 days; follow-up through 4 weeks
DAS28 and several laboratory markers favored H₂ saline at four weeks; TNF-α did not change meaningfully. The sample was very small.
Twenty-four-person pilot, five-day intervention and mainly disease-score and biomarker outcomes. Financial support was reported as none; complete author-industry relationship extraction remains pending.
What kind of evidence is this?
Human
Randomized double-blind placebo-controlled pilot trial
Immune and inflammatory conditions
H₂-rich water
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
Adults with rheumatoid arthritis
24 participants: H₂ saline n=12; placebo saline n=12
Daily for 5 days; follow-up through 4 weeks
500 mL H₂-dissolved saline by intravenous drip daily
H₂ dissolved in intravenous saline — not inhaled, not H₂-rich drinking water and not Brown’s gas.
1 ppm dissolved H₂.
500 mL placebo saline by intravenous drip
Outcomes and reported result
DAS28, IL-6, TNF-α, MMP-3 and urinary 8-OHdG
DAS28 and several laboratory markers favored H₂ saline at four weeks; TNF-α did not change meaningfully. The sample was very small.
Abstract and licensed full-text copy checked for methods and principal results; independent appraisal and complete conflict extraction remain incomplete.
A reported association, difference or mechanism is not automatically a clinical benefit.
Limitations and applicability
Twenty-four-person pilot, five-day intervention and mainly disease-score and biomarker outcomes. Financial support was reported as none; complete author-industry relationship extraction remains pending.
Adults with rheumatoid arthritis under supervised intravenous infusion; it does not inform drinking or inhalation protocols.
No single-study GRADE certainty rating is assigned. Read how records and evidence assessments are prepared.
Sources and record status
PMID: 24929023 · DOI: 10.1016/j.intimp.2014.06.001
The publisher identifies the article as open access under a Creative Commons license; a free full-text copy is available on ResearchGate.
Licensed author-uploaded full text, publisher abstract and PubMed record.
10 August 2026
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