2020/11/27
Keio University School of Medicine
A research group led by Associate Professor Motoaki Sano of the Department of Internal Medicine (Cardiology), Project Professor Eiji Kobayashi of the School of Medicine, and Assistant Professor Tomotake Tamura of the Department of Emergency and Critical Care Medicine, all from Keio University School of Medicine, has proven in a joint study with Professor Yoji Hakamata and others from the Department of Veterinary Nursing and Technology at Nippon Veterinary and Life Science University that one hour of daily hydrogen inhalation is effective in lowering blood pressure in hypertensive model rats.
To date, the Center for Hydrogen Gas Therapeutics has developed experimental animal models with high precision, reproducibility, and extrapolability to humans, and has reported that hydrogen prevents or alleviates organic or functional disorders of the body associated with stress responses.
When the sympathetic nervous system is overactivated by various stresses, not only does blood pressure rise, but the pulse also quickens. If this condition persists, it can lead to the progression of arteriosclerosis and have a direct negative impact on organs, such as by reducing blood flow to the kidneys and impairing their ability to produce urine. The goal of hypertension treatment is to suppress organ damage and prevent stroke and cardiovascular disease. Therefore, a therapeutic strategy that lowers blood pressure by suppressing the overactivation of the sympathetic nervous system, rather than simply lowering blood pressure, is considered more ideal.
The antihypertensive effect of hydrogen inhalation elucidated by this research group is thought to be based on a mechanism that acts on the brain, which regulates sympathetic nerve activity, to suppress its overactivation.
By developing these findings, it is expected that regular hydrogen inhalation in daily life will become a preventive and therapeutic method for stroke and cardiovascular diseases by suppressing the enhancement of sympathetic nerve activity and stabilizing blood pressure. Furthermore, there are reports from China on the use of hydrogen inhalation for the treatment of severe pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). The research group plans to investigate other such effects of hydrogen gas in the future.
These findings were published in the online edition of "Scientific Reports" by the UK's Nature Publishing Group on November 26, 2020 (UK time).
For the full press release, please see below.