Therapeutic Potential of Hydrogen-Rich Water on Muscle Atrophy Caused by Immobilization in a Mouse Model
Nazari SE et al. · Pharmaceuticals (Basel). 2023;16(10):1436.
Study at a glance
Preclinical
Male BALB/c mice with unilateral hindlimb immobilization
Hydrogen-rich drinking water prepared twice daily; approximately 15 mL consumed per mouse per day · Above 1.5 mM when freshly prepared and above 0.1 mM after 12 hours.
7 days of immobilization followed by 10 days of recovery
The article reports higher muscle weight and grip strength, larger fibers and lower fibrosis and selected inflammatory or oxidative-stress markers with H₂ water.
Animal model, small subgroups at each time point and many laboratory outcomes. A commercial H₂-water company partially funded the work and supplied tablets; two authors disclosed industry relationships.
What kind of evidence is this?
Preclinical
Randomized three-group mouse immobilization and recovery experiment
Musculoskeletal and pain research
H₂-rich water
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 BALB/c mice with unilateral hindlimb immobilization
36 mice: control n=12, atrophy n=12 and atrophy plus H₂-water n=12; n=6/group assessed after immobilization and n=6/group after recovery
7 days of immobilization followed by 10 days of recovery
Hydrogen-rich drinking water prepared twice daily; approximately 15 mL consumed per mouse per day
H₂ dissolved in drinking water — H₂ only, not Brown’s gas and not inhalation.
Above 1.5 mM when freshly prepared and above 0.1 mM after 12 hours.
Immobilized mice receiving ordinary water and non-immobilized controls
Outcomes and reported result
Muscle weight, grip strength, fiber size, fibrosis, troponin I, inflammatory, oxidative-stress and gene-expression markers
The article reports higher muscle weight and grip strength, larger fibers and lower fibrosis and selected inflammatory or oxidative-stress markers with H₂ water.
Methods, principal outcomes, funding and conflicts checked in the open-access full text; independent appraisal remains incomplete.
A reported association, difference or mechanism is not automatically a clinical benefit.
Limitations and applicability
Animal model, small subgroups at each time point and many laboratory outcomes. A commercial H₂-water company partially funded the work and supplied tablets; two authors disclosed industry relationships.
Immobilization-related muscle atrophy in mice, not rehabilitation outcomes in people.
No single-study GRADE certainty rating is assigned. Read how records and evidence assessments are prepared.
Sources and record status
PMID: 37895907 · DOI: 10.3390/ph16101436
Open-access full text is available through PMC.
Open-access PMC full text and PubMed record.
10 August 2026
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