Molecular hydrogen alleviates motor deficits and muscle degeneration in mdx mice
Hasegawa S, Ito M, Fukami M, Hashimoto M, Hirayama M, Ohno K. · Redox Report. 2017;22(1):26-34.
Study at a glance
Preclinical
Pregnant homozygous mdx mice and their male mdx offspring, with wild-type C57BL/10 male mice as reference controls.
Pregnant mdx mice drank supersaturated H₂ water ad libitum from embryonic day 15.5 through weaning; offspring then continued the same water until 10 or 24 weeks of age. · Fresh water was generated daily at 5-7 ppm, falling from 6.67 to 0.87 ppm over 12 hours in the closed vessel. The authors estimated average consumed concentration at 1.66 ppm; individual intake was not measured.
From five days before birth through weaning in dams, then through age 10 or 24 weeks in offspring; motor tests every two weeks.
H₂ water altered body-mass trajectory, improved selected motor measures, lowered creatine kinase and central nuclei, and reduced nitrotyrosine at 24 weeks. Several findings were null or time-dependent: early fixed-speed rotarod differences were not significant, spontaneous activity benefit disappeared after week 12, TUNEL-positive nuclei were not reduced, and HO-1/GPx1/Bcl-2 protein differences were absent at week 24; utrophin and iNOS were unchanged.
Small outcome-specific groups, unreported number of randomized dams and potential litter clustering, prenatal plus lifelong exposure, ad-libitum intake not measured, mdx mice have spontaneous compensatory improvement, and multiple endpoints/time points. MiZ Co. provided the generator it developed; Japanese public grants funded the work and authors declared no competing interests.
What kind of evidence is this?
Preclinical
Randomized maternal and offspring drinking-water experiment in the mdx Duchenne-muscular-dystrophy mouse model
Musculoskeletal and pain research
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
Pregnant homozygous mdx mice and their male mdx offspring, with wild-type C57BL/10 male mice as reference controls.
Principal longitudinal motor analysis included wild-type n=6, untreated mdx n=8 and H₂-water mdx n=11. Outcome-specific samples ranged from n=4 to n=11; the number of randomized pregnant dams is not reported.
From five days before birth through weaning in dams, then through age 10 or 24 weeks in offspring; motor tests every two weeks.
Pregnant mdx mice drank supersaturated H₂ water ad libitum from embryonic day 15.5 through weaning; offspring then continued the same water until 10 or 24 weeks of age.
H₂ dissolved in drinking water — H₂ only, not Brown's gas.
Fresh water was generated daily at 5-7 ppm, falling from 6.67 to 0.87 ppm over 12 hours in the closed vessel. The authors estimated average consumed concentration at 1.66 ppm; individual intake was not measured.
Degassed water in mdx dams/offspring and untreated wild-type reference mice.
Outcomes and reported result
Body mass, spontaneous wheel running, fixed/accelerated rotarod, plasma creatine kinase, muscle histology, nitrotyrosine, TUNEL, antioxidant/apoptosis proteins and related gene expression.
H₂ water altered body-mass trajectory, improved selected motor measures, lowered creatine kinase and central nuclei, and reduced nitrotyrosine at 24 weeks. Several findings were null or time-dependent: early fixed-speed rotarod differences were not significant, spontaneous activity benefit disappeared after week 12, TUNEL-positive nuclei were not reduced, and HO-1/GPx1/Bcl-2 protein differences were absent at week 24; utrophin and iNOS were unchanged.
The complete free PMC article was checked for maternal/offspring allocation, water generator and measured decay, outcome-specific samples, positive and null time-dependent results, commercial material provision, funding and conflict declaration.
A reported association, difference or mechanism is not automatically a clinical benefit.
Limitations and applicability
Small outcome-specific groups, unreported number of randomized dams and potential litter clustering, prenatal plus lifelong exposure, ad-libitum intake not measured, mdx mice have spontaneous compensatory improvement, and multiple endpoints/time points. MiZ Co. provided the generator it developed; Japanese public grants funded the work and authors declared no competing interests.
The mdx mouse model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy; it does not establish benefit in people with DMD.
No single-study GRADE certainty rating is assigned. Read how records and evidence assessments are prepared.
Sources and record status
PMID: 26866650 · DOI: 10.1080/13510002.2015.1135580
Free full article in PubMed Central.
Complete PMC article and PubMed metadata; full-text extraction checked 9 August 2026.
10 August 2026
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