Hydrogen-rich water exerting a protective effect on ovarian reserve function in a mouse model of immune premature ovarian failure induced by zona pellucida 3
He X, Wang SY, Yin CH, Wang T, Jia CW, Ma YM. · Chinese Medical Journal. 2016;129(19):2331–2337.
What kind of evidence is this?
Preclinical
Randomized four-group mouse immune-ovarian-injury experiment
Women’s health
H₂-rich water
Not reported in this record.
Not reported in this record.
Methods at a glance
50 adult female BALB/c mice with normal estrous cycles, with or without zona-pellucida-3 immunization.
Control n=10, H₂ water without injury n=10, ovarian-injury model n=15 and model plus H₂ water n=15.
Five weeks from first immunization through tissue collection; water offered every 4.5 hours, four times/day.
H₂-rich water offered four times daily; mice drank about 0.9 mL at each offering for five weeks.
H₂ dissolved in drinking water — H₂ only, not Brown's gas and not inhalation.
H₂ was dissolved into 200 mL water at 230 mL/min for 20 minutes; concentration was confirmed above 0.8 mmol/L before and after each 4.5-hour interval.
Not applicable to drinking — preparation used an explicitly reported 230 mL/min H₂ feed.
No O₂ was co-delivered as part of the intervention.
Normal water with and without zona-pellucida-3 immunization, plus H₂ water without ovarian injury.
Outcomes and reported result
Estrous cyclicity, serum anti-Müllerian hormone, granulosa-cell apoptosis and ovarian Bax/Bcl-2 immunostaining and protein expression.
Anti-Müllerian hormone, granulosa-cell apoptosis and Bcl-2 favored H₂ water in injured mice. Estrous cycling remained incompletely regular, Bax did not differ significantly, and the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio difference was not statistically significant.
The complete free PMC article, figures and methods were checked for randomization, exact preparation flow/concentration and intake, all groups, positive and null ovarian outcomes, limitations, funding and conflicts.
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
Small mouse model, prophylaxis and disease induction occurred concurrently, no fertility/pregnancy endpoint, limited mechanism and no translation of dose to people. Beijing public/hospital grants funded the work; authors declared no conflicts and identified the commercial H₂-generator manufacturer.
Immune ovarian injury in mice; it does not establish preservation or restoration of ovarian reserve or fertility in people.
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: 27647193 · DOI: 10.4103/0366-6999.190668
Free full article in PubMed Central.
Complete PMC article and PubMed metadata; full-text extraction checked 9 August 2026.
2026-08-10