Therapeutic effects of hydrogen on chronic graft-versus-host disease
Qian L, Liu X, Shen J, Zhao D, Yin W. · Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine. 2017;21(10):2627–2630.
What kind of evidence is this?
Preclinical
Controlled chronic graft-versus-host-disease mouse experiment
Immune and inflammatory conditions
Other forms
Not reported in this record.
Not reported in this record.
Methods at a glance
BALB/c RAG-2 knockout mice receiving B10.D2 spleen cells to induce chronic graft-versus-host disease.
Principal survival and skin figures report n=30 across hydrogen-rich-saline and ordinary-saline conditions; per-group denominators were not printed separately in the figure legend.
Daily treatment from day 20; survival through day 60 and skin histopathology on day 55.
Hydrogen-rich saline 5 mL/kg intraperitoneally once daily starting 20 days after transplantation.
H₂ dissolved in saline — H₂ only, not inhaled and not Brown's gas.
Saline contained more than 0.6 mmol/L dissolved H₂ after preparation for 6 hours under 0.4 MPa; concentration was confirmed by gas chromatography.
Not applicable — intraperitoneal saline, not gas inhalation.
No O₂ was co-delivered as part of the intervention.
Physiological saline under the same transplantation model.
Outcomes and reported result
Survival, serial clinical skin-lesion score and blinded histopathological skin score.
By day 60, 80% of H₂-treated mice survived versus 30% of untreated cGVHD mice (p<0.05). Clinical skin scores were lower, and mean pathology score on day 55 was 1.6 versus 3.8 (p<0.05).
The complete PubMed Central article, model, saline concentration, dose, timing, survival, skin scoring, funding and conflicts were checked.
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
Single animal model with delayed post-transplant treatment and limited outcomes; group denominators are not clearly separated in the printed figure legend. It cannot establish efficacy in people. Funding came from the Innovative Cultivation Foundation of Chinese Navy General Hospital (CXPY201603); authors declared no competing interests.
Experimental chronic GVHD in mice only.
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: 28374556 · DOI: 10.1111/jcmm.13155
Free full article on PubMed Central.
PubMed metadata and complete PubMed Central article; full-text extraction checked 8 August 2026.
2026-08-10