Protective effects of hydrogen rich water on the intestinal ischemia/reperfusion injury due to intestinal intussusception in a rat model
Wu MJ, Chen M, Sang S, Hou LL, Tian ML, Li K, Lv FQ. · Medical Gas Research. 2017;7(2):101–106.
What kind of evidence is this?
Preclinical
Randomized three-group rat intestinal-intussusception ischemia/reperfusion experiment
Gastrointestinal health
H₂-rich water
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Methods at a glance
90 male Sprague-Dawley rats aged seven to nine weeks.
90 rats randomized equally: sham n=30, ischemia/reperfusion plus saline n=30 and ischemia/reperfusion plus H₂-rich water n=30; selected histology assays used 10 rats per group.
Eight hours of intussusception, immediate injection after relocation and outcome collection one hour later.
Single intraperitoneal injection of H₂-rich water 5 mL/kg immediately after the intestine was relocated following eight hours of intussusception.
H₂ dissolved in water and injected intraperitoneally — H₂ only, not Brown's gas, not inhalation and not oral drinking.
Dose was 5 mL/kg. The article names the supplying institute but does not report the dissolved-H₂ concentration or preparation gas flow.
Not applicable — injected H₂-rich water; preparation flow was not reported.
No O₂ was co-delivered as part of the intervention.
Equal-volume intraperitoneal normal saline after the same injury, plus sham laparotomy without intussusception.
Outcomes and reported result
Intestinal histopathology, serum TNF-α, malondialdehyde and superoxide dismutase, TUNEL-positive cells and intestinal 8-OHdG.
Histology and all measured inflammatory, oxidative and cell-death outcomes favored H₂-rich water over saline at one hour. No dose comparison, later functional recovery, obstruction recurrence or survival outcome was reported.
The complete free PMC article, table and figures were checked for randomization, group size, route/dose, absent concentration/flow, outcomes, limitations, funding information 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
Acute one-hour rat model, only males, no H₂ concentration, no dose/timing optimization, biomarker/histology outcomes and no blinded-assessment statement. Authors declared no conflict; no explicit funding statement was identified, so absence of funding is not inferred.
Experimental intestinal intussusception/reperfusion in rats; it does not establish treatment for children or adults with intussusception.
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: 28744362 · DOI: 10.4103/2045-9912.208515
Free full article in PubMed Central.
Complete PMC article and PubMed metadata; full-text extraction checked 9 August 2026.
2026-08-10