Long-term consumption of hydrogen-rich water provides hepatoprotection by improving mitochondrial biology and quality control in chronically stressed mice
He Q et al. · PLoS One. 2025;20(2):e0317080.
Study at a glance
Preclinical
Male and female Kunming mice exposed to chronic unpredictable mild stress
Daily freshly prepared hydrogen-rich drinking water · Numeric dissolved-H₂ concentration was not identified in the extracted full-text methods.
Seven months of H₂-water exposure followed by chronic-stress modeling under the reported protocol
The article reports improved liver histology and enzyme, redox, ferroptosis, apoptosis and mitochondrial measures in chronically stressed mice receiving H₂ water.
Long preclinical exposure, many biochemical outcomes, sex-balanced but not clearly powered for sex-specific effects, and no human participants.
What kind of evidence is this?
Preclinical
Randomized three-group chronic-stress mouse experiment
Liver health
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 and female Kunming mice exposed to chronic unpredictable mild stress
48 mice: H₂-water n=16, stress-model n=16 and control n=16; each group included 8 males and 8 females
Seven months of H₂-water exposure followed by chronic-stress modeling under the reported protocol
Daily freshly prepared hydrogen-rich drinking water
H₂ dissolved in drinking water — H₂ only, not Brown’s gas and not inhalation.
Numeric dissolved-H₂ concentration was not identified in the extracted full-text methods.
Chronically stressed and non-stressed mice receiving distilled water
Outcomes and reported result
Liver histology, AST, ALT, oxidative stress, ferroptosis, apoptosis, mitochondrial biology and behavior
The article reports improved liver histology and enzyme, redox, ferroptosis, apoptosis and mitochondrial measures in chronically stressed mice receiving H₂ water.
Animal allocation, main methods and principal outcomes checked in the open-access full text; numeric H₂ concentration remains to be confirmed.
A reported association, difference or mechanism is not automatically a clinical benefit.
Limitations and applicability
Long preclinical exposure, many biochemical outcomes, sex-balanced but not clearly powered for sex-specific effects, and no human participants.
Chronically stressed mice, not patients with liver disease.
No single-study GRADE certainty rating is assigned. Read how records and evidence assessments are prepared.
Sources and record status
PMID: 39951412 · DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0317080
Open-access full text is available through PMC.
Open-access PMC full text and PubMed record.
10 August 2026
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