Hydrogen-rich pure water prevents superoxide formation in brain slices of vitamin C-depleted SMP30/GNL knockout mice

Sato Y, Kajiyama S, Amano A, Kondo Y, Sasaki T, Handa S, Takahashi R, Fukui M, Hasegawa G, Nakamura N, Fujinawa H, Mori T, Ohta M, Obayashi H, Maruyama N, Ishigami A. 
Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Toho University, Chiba 274-8510, Japan. 

Hydrogen is an established anti-oxidant that prevents acute oxidative stress. To clarify the mechanism of hydrogen's effect in the brain, we administered hydrogen-rich pure water (H(2)) to senescence marker protein-30 (SMP30)/gluconolactonase (GNL) knockout (KO) mice, which cannot synthesize vitamin C (VC), also a well-known anti-oxidant. These KO mice were divided into three groups; recipients of H(2), VC, or pure water (H(2)O), administered for 33 days. VC levels in H(2) and H(2)O groups were <6% of those in the VC group. Subsequently, superoxide formation during hypoxia-reoxygenation treatment of brain slices from these groups was estimated by a real-time biography imaging system, which models living brain tissues, with Lucigenin used as chemiluminescence probe for superoxide. A significant 27.2% less superoxide formed in the H(2) group subjected to ischemia-reperfusion than in the H(2)O group. Thus hydrogen-rich pure water acts as an anti-oxidant in the brain slices and prevents superoxide formation. 

PMID: 18706888 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]