Hydrogen-rich saline inhibits tobacco smoke-induced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease by alleviating airway inflammation and mucus hypersecretion in rats
Liu Z, Geng W, Jiang C, Zhao S, Liu Y, Zhang Y, Qin S, Li C, Zhang X, Si Y. · Experimental Biology and Medicine. 2017;242(15):1534-1541.
Study at a glance
Preclinical
Twenty-four male Sprague-Dawley rats; COPD was modelled by tobacco-smoke exposure for 12 weeks.
H₂-rich saline 10 mL/kg intraperitoneally twice daily, 30 minutes before smoke exposure, during weeks 9-12. · Hydrogen was dissolved in saline for two hours at 0.4 MPa; solution was freshly prepared weekly, gamma-sterilized, stored at 4°C and maintained above 0.6 mM.
Tobacco smoke twice daily for 12 weeks; H₂-rich saline twice daily during the final four weeks.
Compared with smoke plus normal saline, H₂-rich saline improved the reported lung-function measures and histology, reduced inflammatory cells, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, MDA and MUC5AC, and increased AQP5. This was a prevention/attenuation model without an H₂-only healthy group, and the article does not establish reversal of human COPD.
Small male-rat study, surrogate and histological endpoints, prophylactic timing before each smoke exposure, no dose-response assessment and no human participants. Chinese public/provincial/institutional grants funded the work; authors declared no conflicts of interest.
What kind of evidence is this?
Preclinical
Randomized three-group controlled rat study
Respiratory health
Other forms
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
Twenty-four male Sprague-Dawley rats; COPD was modelled by tobacco-smoke exposure for 12 weeks.
24 rats randomized to control, tobacco-smoke and tobacco-smoke plus H₂-rich saline groups, n=8 each.
Tobacco smoke twice daily for 12 weeks; H₂-rich saline twice daily during the final four weeks.
H₂-rich saline 10 mL/kg intraperitoneally twice daily, 30 minutes before smoke exposure, during weeks 9-12.
H₂ dissolved in normal saline — H₂ only, not Brown's gas.
Hydrogen was dissolved in saline for two hours at 0.4 MPa; solution was freshly prepared weekly, gamma-sterilized, stored at 4°C and maintained above 0.6 mM.
Air-exposed controls and tobacco-smoke rats receiving equal-volume normal saline injections.
Outcomes and reported result
Lung resistance and compliance, FEV0.1/FVC, lung histology, inflammatory cells and cytokines, MDA, airway MUC5AC and lung AQP5.
Compared with smoke plus normal saline, H₂-rich saline improved the reported lung-function measures and histology, reduced inflammatory cells, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, MDA and MUC5AC, and increased AQP5. This was a prevention/attenuation model without an H₂-only healthy group, and the article does not establish reversal of human COPD.
The complete free PMC article was checked for randomization, groups, H₂ preparation and concentration, dose and timing, result tables and figures, funding and conflict declaration.
A reported association, difference or mechanism is not automatically a clinical benefit.
Limitations and applicability
Small male-rat study, surrogate and histological endpoints, prophylactic timing before each smoke exposure, no dose-response assessment and no human participants. Chinese public/provincial/institutional grants funded the work; authors declared no conflicts of interest.
Tobacco-smoke COPD model in male rats; it does not establish a treatment or dose for people with COPD.
No single-study GRADE certainty rating is assigned. Read how records and evidence assessments are prepared.
Sources and record status
PMID: 28795606 · DOI: 10.1177/1535370217725249
Free full article in PubMed Central; the journal landing page may otherwise show restricted access.
Complete PMC article and PubMed metadata; full-text extraction checked 9 August 2026.
10 August 2026
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