January 14, 2022
Keio University School of Medicine
A research group led by Visiting Researcher Kimiaki Shirakawa, Associate Professor Motoaki Sano, and Guest Professor Eiji Kobayashi of the Division of Cardiology, Keio University School of Medicine, has revealed, as part of the activities of the Center for Hydrogen Gas Medicine at the Keio University Global Research Institute, that hydrogen suppresses the production of Neutrophil Extracellular Traps (NETs) when stimulated with phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate (PMA) or calcium ionophore A23187. Furthermore, they confirmed that hydrogen inhalation therapy suppresses the production of NETs in the lungs when sepsis was induced with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in mice and aged micropigs.
NETs are structures composed of DNA and histones from the nucleus, combined with proteins such as neutrophil elastase and myeloperoxidase from cytoplasmic granules. When released outside the cell, NETs can spread in a web-like fashion to trap and contain pathogens, but their excessive activation can become an exacerbating factor for inflammation and thrombosis.
In Wuhan, China, it was reported that hydrogen inhalation was adopted for the treatment of COVID-19 pneumonia and showed a certain degree of effectiveness in preventing severe illness. On the other hand, it is known that neutrophils in the blood of COVID-19 patients produce higher levels of NETs, which are deeply involved in lung injury and the formation of microvascular thrombi. The research group focused on NETs formation and discovered that hydrogen suppresses the excessive production of NETs by activated neutrophils.
These findings were published in the online edition of "JACC: Basic to Translational Science" on January 12, 2022 (UK time).
Please see below for the full press release.