Molecular Hydrogen as a Novel Protective Agent against Pre-Symptomatic Diseases.

Abstract

Pre-symptomatic disease, known in Japanese medicine as 'mibyou', describes a condition in which pathological processes are underway before clinical symptoms emerge. Chronic inflammation, driven by dysregulated release of pro-inflammatory cytokines from neutrophils and macrophages of the innate immune system, represents a major category of such conditions. This review examines evidence that molecular hydrogen (H2) can counteract chronic inflammation by scavenging hydroxyl radicals (·OH), a mitochondria-derived reactive oxygen species. By reducing oxidative stress, H2 interferes with upstream mechanisms of chronic inflammation, including NLRP3 inflammasome activation. The review surveys applications of H2 as a preventive agent across multiple inflammatory disease states in their pre-symptomatic phase, arguing that H2 may offer a means of addressing pathological progression that conventional medicine currently cannot detect or intervene upon at this early stage.

Mechanism

H2 selectively neutralizes mitochondria-derived hydroxyl radicals (·OH), thereby reducing oxidative stress and suppressing NLRP3 inflammasome activation, which collectively attenuates the pathological cascade underlying chronic inflammation.