Hydrogen exerts neuroprotective effects by inhibiting oxidative stress in experimental diabetic peripheral neuropathy rats
Han XC, Ye ZH, Hu HJ, Sun Q, Fan DF. · Medical Gas Research. 2023;13(2):72–77.
Study at a glance
Preclinical
Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats with diabetes induced by a single intraperitoneal 65 mg/kg streptozotocin injection.
Beginning three days after diabetes induction, rats received hydrogen-rich saline 10 mL/kg by intraperitoneal injection once daily; no insulin or antidiabetic drugs were given. · Hydrogen was dissolved in saline for 3 hours at 0.4 MPa and the solution was prepared one day before use; gas chromatography confirmed a target concentration of 0.6 mmol/L.
Daily treatment for eight weeks.
Hydrogen-rich saline partially restored motor nerve-conduction velocity and myelinated-nerve density and area and reduced the reported oxidative-stress measures while increasing SOD and Nrf2-pathway proteins versus untreated diabetic rats. Body-mass gain remained non-significantly different from untreated diabetes at weeks 4 and 8 (p>0.05).
Preclinical model with only eight rats per group, one sex, many biochemical outcomes and no behavioral pain testing or long-term post-treatment follow-up. The abstract incorrectly contrasts 'hydrogen inhalation' with hydrogen-rich saline, while the Methods describe only daily intraperitoneal hydrogen-rich saline; the structured record follows the Methods and flags the discrepancy. The Innovation Cultivation Foundation of Navy General Hospital funded the work; authors declared no conflicts of interest.
What kind of evidence is this?
Preclinical
Randomized three-group streptozotocin-induced diabetes experiment
Metabolic and lipid 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
Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats with diabetes induced by a single intraperitoneal 65 mg/kg streptozotocin injection.
24 rats randomized to healthy control, untreated diabetes and diabetes plus hydrogen-rich saline, n=8 per group.
Daily treatment for eight weeks.
Beginning three days after diabetes induction, rats received hydrogen-rich saline 10 mL/kg by intraperitoneal injection once daily; no insulin or antidiabetic drugs were given.
H₂ dissolved in saline — H₂ only, not Brown's gas and not inhalation.
Hydrogen was dissolved in saline for 3 hours at 0.4 MPa and the solution was prepared one day before use; gas chromatography confirmed a target concentration of 0.6 mmol/L.
Diabetic rats receiving the same 10 mL/kg volume of ordinary physiological saline and non-diabetic controls receiving vehicle.
Outcomes and reported result
Body-mass gain, blood glucose, motor nerve-conduction velocity, sciatic-nerve myelin morphology and density, malondialdehyde, reactive oxygen species, 8-hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine, superoxide dismutase and Nrf2, heme oxygenase-1 and catalase protein expression.
Hydrogen-rich saline partially restored motor nerve-conduction velocity and myelinated-nerve density and area and reduced the reported oxidative-stress measures while increasing SOD and Nrf2-pathway proteins versus untreated diabetic rats. Body-mass gain remained non-significantly different from untreated diabetes at weeks 4 and 8 (p>0.05).
The complete open-access article, allocation, saline preparation, concentration and dose, positive and null results, funding and conflict statement were checked.
A reported association, difference or mechanism is not automatically a clinical benefit.
Limitations and applicability
Preclinical model with only eight rats per group, one sex, many biochemical outcomes and no behavioral pain testing or long-term post-treatment follow-up. The abstract incorrectly contrasts 'hydrogen inhalation' with hydrogen-rich saline, while the Methods describe only daily intraperitoneal hydrogen-rich saline; the structured record follows the Methods and flags the discrepancy. The Innovation Cultivation Foundation of Navy General Hospital funded the work; authors declared no conflicts of interest.
Streptozotocin-induced diabetic peripheral-nerve injury in rats; it does not establish treatment efficacy, dosing or safety in people with diabetic neuropathy.
No single-study GRADE certainty rating is assigned. Read how records and evidence assessments are prepared.
Sources and record status
PMID: 36204786 · DOI: 10.4103/2045-9912.345171
Open-access Medical Gas Research article and PubMed Central copy.
Complete PubMed Central/Medical Gas Research article and PubMed metadata; full-text extraction checked 9 August 2026.
10 August 2026
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