Molecular Hydrogen Inhibits Colorectal Cancer Growth via the AKT/SCD1 Signaling Pathway
Zhang X et al. · Biomed Res Int. 2022;2022:8024452.
What kind of evidence is this?
Preclinical
Colorectal-cancer cell experiments and randomized mouse xenograft experiment
Cancer research
Inhaled H₂
Not reported in this record.
Not reported in this record.
Methods at a glance
RKO, SW480 and HCT116 colorectal-cancer cell lines; BALB/c nude mice bearing RKO xenografts
10 xenograft mice randomized to gas groups; cell experiments were repeated at least three times
2 hours/day for three weeks; tumors excised on day 21
Mice inhaled a 66% H₂ and 33% O₂ mixture for 2 hours/day from day 2 through day 21
Brown’s gas / oxyhydrogen — H₂ and O₂ co-delivered from a hydrogen-oxygen generator.
Source methods report 66% H₂ and 33% O₂; the chamber atmosphere was monitored by gas chromatography.
Not reported — the article gives chamber concentration but no H₂ flow in mL/min.
33% O₂ was co-delivered; O₂ flow in mL/min was not reported.
66% N₂ and 33% O₂ chamber exposure
Outcomes and reported result
Cell proliferation and apoptosis, xenograft tumor volume and weight, and AKT/SCD1 pathway measurements
Tumor weight was 1.11 vs 1.56 g (p=0.021) and volume 898 vs 1413 mm³ (p=0.032) with oxyhydrogen versus control. Cell proliferation and pathway signals also changed; the 491 human tissue specimens were correlative and were not exposed to H₂.
Gas composition, animal methods, principal results and limitations checked in the open-access full text; generator flow was not reported.
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
Only 10 xenograft mice, preclinical model, no patient treatment experiment and several mechanistic analyses. The article did not use patient-derived or orthotopic xenografts and did not report gas flow.
Colorectal-cancer cell lines and a mouse xenograft model; not people with colorectal cancer.
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: 35528164 · DOI: 10.1155/2022/8024452
Open-access full text is available through PMC.
Open-access PMC full text and PubMed bibliographic record.
2026-08-10