Hydrogen gas inhalation ameliorates cardiac remodelling and fibrosis by regulating NLRP3 inflammasome in myocardial infarction rats
Nie C, Zou R, Pan S, A R, Gao Y, Yang H, Bai J, Xi S, Wang X, Hong X, Yang W. · Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine. 2021;25(18):8997–9010.
Study at a glance
Preclinical
Male Sprague-Dawley rats with permanent coronary ligation and neonatal-rat cardiomyocytes/cardiac fibroblasts.
2% H₂ in air inhaled in a monitored cage for three hours daily for 28 days, alone or with one 30 mg/kg intraperitoneal dose of the NLRP3 inhibitor MCC950. · Air-pump flow and generator H₂ flow were mixed at a reported 50:1 ratio to target 2% H₂, with real-time chamber concentration monitoring; absolute total flow was not reported.
Three hours/day for 28 days after coronary ligation; cell-treatment schedules varied by assay.
Cardiac-function, fibrosis, oxidative and inflammasome-related measures generally favored H₂ versus infarction alone. Survival was 8/15 with infarction and 11/15 with H₂, reported descriptively without establishing a definitive survival effect; multiple assays used only five survivors per group.
Preclinical model, substantial post-infarction mortality, many analyses restricted to five survivors per group, no absolute gas flow and several mechanistic comparisons. Four Chinese public/institutional grants funded the study; authors reported no conflict of interest and named the commercial H₂ generator.
What kind of evidence is this?
Preclinical
Randomized five-group rat myocardial-infarction experiment plus cardiomyocyte and cardiac-fibroblast experiments
Cardiovascular and circulatory health
Inhaled H₂
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
Male Sprague-Dawley rats with permanent coronary ligation and neonatal-rat cardiomyocytes/cardiac fibroblasts.
75 rats randomized, n=15 in each of sham, infarction, infarction plus H₂, infarction plus MCC950 and combined-treatment groups; most tissue assays used five surviving rats per group.
Three hours/day for 28 days after coronary ligation; cell-treatment schedules varied by assay.
2% H₂ in air inhaled in a monitored cage for three hours daily for 28 days, alone or with one 30 mg/kg intraperitoneal dose of the NLRP3 inhibitor MCC950.
H₂ alone diluted with air — not Brown's gas or oxyhydrogen.
Air-pump flow and generator H₂ flow were mixed at a reported 50:1 ratio to target 2% H₂, with real-time chamber concentration monitoring; absolute total flow was not reported.
Not reported in mL/min — only the 50:1 air:H₂ flow ratio was given, so an absolute H₂ flow cannot be calculated.
No supplemental O₂; room air was the carrier, but its absolute flow and resulting O₂ mL/min were not reported.
Sham, myocardial infarction alone, MCC950 alone and H₂ plus MCC950 groups; matched cell controls used hypoxia or angiotensin II.
Outcomes and reported result
Survival, cardiac function, BNP, oxidative markers, myocardial fibrosis/remodelling, NLRP3-pyroptosis markers and cell viability/fibroblast activation.
Cardiac-function, fibrosis, oxidative and inflammasome-related measures generally favored H₂ versus infarction alone. Survival was 8/15 with infarction and 11/15 with H₂, reported descriptively without establishing a definitive survival effect; multiple assays used only five survivors per group.
The complete free PMC article, figures, supplement-linked methods and disclosures were checked for allocation, mortality, mixture/flow limitations, positive and comparative results, funding and conflicts.
A reported association, difference or mechanism is not automatically a clinical benefit.
Limitations and applicability
Preclinical model, substantial post-infarction mortality, many analyses restricted to five survivors per group, no absolute gas flow and several mechanistic comparisons. Four Chinese public/institutional grants funded the study; authors reported no conflict of interest and named the commercial H₂ generator.
Chronic cardiac remodelling after permanent infarction in rats; it does not establish treatment benefit, flow or safety in people.
No single-study GRADE certainty rating is assigned. Read how records and evidence assessments are prepared.
Sources and record status
PMID: 34402164 · DOI: 10.1111/jcmm.16863
Free full article in PubMed Central.
Complete PMC article and PubMed metadata; full-text extraction checked 9 August 2026.
10 August 2026
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