Hydrogen molecules (H2) improve perfusion recovery via antioxidant effects in experimental peripheral arterial disease
Fu J et al. · Mol Med Rep. 2018;18(6):5009–5015.
What kind of evidence is this?
Preclinical
Controlled mouse hindlimb-ischemia experiment plus endothelial-cell experiments
Cardiovascular and circulatory health
H₂-rich water
Not reported in this record.
Not reported in this record.
Methods at a glance
Mice with experimental peripheral arterial disease and cultured endothelial cells
Principal figures report n=10 for perfusion and n=8 for histology; cell experiments used repeated assays
Perfusion assessed through days 14 and 21; tissue assays included day 7
H₂-saturated drinking water; separate cells received H₂-saturated culture medium
H₂ dissolved in water or culture medium — H₂ only, not Brown’s gas and not inhalation.
The article describes saturated H₂ water; a numeric concentration has not yet been extracted.
Not applicable — oral water and cell medium, not gas inhalation.
No O₂ was co-delivered as part of the intervention.
Dehydrogenized water in mice and matched cell-culture controls
Outcomes and reported result
Limb perfusion, necrosis, capillary and artery density, oxidative-stress markers, cGMP and endothelial tube formation
The article reports improved perfusion and vascular-density measures and less necrosis with H₂ water, alongside cell and biochemical findings.
Methods and principal results checked in the open-access full text; exact drinking-water concentration still requires extraction.
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
Animal and cell evidence with surrogate vascular outcomes and no human participants. Exact H₂ concentration remains to be confirmed.
Experimental hindlimb ischemia in mice, not people with peripheral arterial disease.
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: 30320393 · DOI: 10.3892/mmr.2018.9546
Open-access full text is available through PMC.
Open-access PMC full text and PubMed record.
2026-08-10