Hydrogenology editorial study record

Hydrogen-rich water improves endurance by reducing skeletal muscle oxidative stress and inflammatory responses

Mizuno E et al. · Front Nutr. 2026;13:1722091.

PreclinicalH₂-rich waterPublished 2026

Study record, not medical adviceThis page reports one source and Hydrogenology’s source-text extraction. It does not establish that molecular hydrogen is effective, safe or appropriate for any person. Human, animal and laboratory evidence must not be treated as equivalent.

Source and classification

What kind of evidence is this?

Evidence stream

Preclinical

Reported design

Controlled mouse drinking-water experiment across four exposure durations

Research topic

Exercise and recovery

Administration classification

H₂-rich water

Study result signal

Not reported in this record.

Outcome type

Not reported in this record.

Reported in the source

Methods at a glance

Population or model

Eight-week-old male C57BL/6J mice

Sample

At 1 week n=6/6; 2 weeks n=4/5; 4 weeks n=10/10; 6 weeks n=5/5 for purified-water/H₂-water groups

Duration

1, 2, 4 or 6 weeks

Intervention

Hydrogen-rich drinking water refreshed at 07:00 and 17:00

Hydrogen form

H₂ dissolved in drinking water — H₂ only, not Brown’s gas and not inhalation.

H₂ specification

Above 5 ppm and reported to remain at that level for up to 14 hours.

H₂ flow

Not applicable — oral water, not gas inhalation.

O₂ delivered with H₂

No O₂ was co-delivered as part of the intervention.

Comparator

Purified drinking water

Reported, not endorsed

Outcomes and reported result

Outcomes measured

Treadmill running distance, fatigue, skeletal-muscle oxidative stress, inflammation, muscle damage and antioxidant-gene expression

Reported result

Mice receiving H₂ water for at least four weeks ran farther and showed lower selected oxidative-stress, inflammatory and muscle-damage markers; shorter exposure did not show the same endurance result.

Results-extraction completeness

Methods, duration-specific groups and principal results checked in the open-access full text.

A reported association, difference or mechanism is not automatically a clinical benefit. Null findings, outcome type, study design and precision all matter.

Interpretation limits

Cautions and applicability

Design and reporting cautions

Animal study with variable and sometimes very small groups across time points, multiple laboratory outcomes and no inactive-human cohort. The H₂-water device was supplied by MiZ.

Applies directly to

Previously inactive male mice starting treadmill exercise, not exercise performance in people.

Preliminary appraisal framework

Not reported in this record.

Preliminary risk-of-bias status

Not reported in this record.

Appraisal rationale

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.

Provenance

Sources and record status

Identifiers

PMID: 41641160 · DOI: 10.3389/fnut.2026.1722091

Publisher access

Open-access full text is available through PMC.

Extraction basis

Open-access PMC full text and PubMed record.

Record revision

2026-08-10

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