2024 · Tumurbaatar — The effect of hydrogen gas on the oxidative stress response in adipose tissue.
Super-Abstract
Human fat tissue soaked in hydrogen-dissolved culture medium showed reduced markers of harmful oxidative stress and a trend toward smaller fat cell size. This ex-vivo tissue study on samples from cardiac surgery patients found changes in key antioxidant proteins and in gene expression of adipocytokines related to fat metabolism. (Scientific Reports, 2024.)
Commentary
This study is unusual in using actual human tissue — subcutaneous fat from 12 patients undergoing open-heart surgery — rather than cell lines or animal models. The tissue was immersed in hydrogen-saturated culture medium generated by a hydrogen device. Immunostaining showed significantly decreased HO-1 and Nrf2 expression (markers of oxidative stress response), while SOD increased but not significantly. The adipose tissue also showed a trend toward smaller adipocyte size and toward increased adiponectin and decreased chemerin gene expression. However, this is an ex-vivo setting: the tissue is removed from the body, so physiological context is absent. The sample size is small (12 patients), and most results trend toward significance rather than reaching it. Results cannot be equated with therapeutic effects in living humans.
Key quotes
- „The immunostaining results showed that HO-1 and Nrf2 expression levels were significantly decreased in the hydrogenated group, whereas SOD expression levels increased, but did not attain statistical significance.“ — the main finding: oxidative stress markers changed, but not all significantly
- „hydrogenated adipose tissue showed a trend toward increased gene expression levels of adiponectin and decreased gene expression levels of chemerin, an adipocytokine involved in adipogenesis.“ — a secondary finding: potential shift in metabolically relevant adipocytokines
- „These results demonstrated the therapeutic potential of hydrogen gas for oxidative stress in adipose tissue and for reducing adipocyte size.“ — the authors' conclusion — cautiously phrased as potential
Our assessment
This is a small ex-vivo human tissue study (n=12) — human fat samples treated outside the body with hydrogen-saturated medium. While the use of actual human tissue is a strength compared to animal or cell-line models, the ex-vivo setting means results cannot be directly translated to effects in living humans. The sample size is very small, several key results did not reach statistical significance, and there is no control over H₂ concentration or dose. The study is hypothesis-generating, not confirmatory. No clinical conclusions about treating obesity, metabolic disease, or atherosclerosis should be drawn from this data alone.
Study design
- Type: ex-vivo human tissue study · Model: subcutaneous adipose tissue from 12 cardiac surgery patients · H₂ delivery: immersion in hydrogen-saturated culture medium
- Result: HO-1 and Nrf2 significantly decreased; SOD increased (not significant); trend toward smaller adipocytes; trend toward increased adiponectin, decreased chemerin mRNA — ex-vivo setting, small n
Abstract
Oxidative stress in adipose tissue may alter the secretion pattern of adipocytokines and potentially promote atherosclerosis. However, the therapeutic role of hydrogen in adipose tissue under oxidative stress remains unclear. In this study, subcutaneous adipose tissue (SCAT) was collected from the mid-thoracic wounds of 12 patients who underwent open-heart surgery with a mid-thoracic incision. The adipose tissue was then immersed in a culture medium dissolved with hydrogen, which was generated using a hydrogen-generating device. The weight of the adipose tissue was measured before and after hydrogenation, and the tissue was immunostained for nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), and superoxide dismutase (SOD), which are markers of oxidative stress. The immunostaining results showed that HO-1 and Nrf2 expression levels were significantly decreased in the hydrogenated group, whereas SOD expression levels increased, but did not attain statistical significance. Image analysis of adipose tissue revealed that a reduction in adipocyte size. Furthermore, hydrogenated adipose tissue showed a trend toward increased gene expression levels of adiponectin and decreased gene expression levels of chemerin, an adipocytokine involved in adipogenesis. These results demonstrated the therapeutic potential of hydrogen gas for oxidative stress in adipose tissue and for reducing adipocyte size.
Source & links
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