Hydrogen in drinking water reduces dopaminergic neuronal loss in the 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine mouse model of Parkinson's disease

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 4; no. 9; p. e7247
• Main Authors: Fujita, Kyota, Seike, Toshihiro, Yutsudo, Noriko, Ohno, Mizuki, Yamada, Hidetaka, Yamaguchi, Hiroo, Sakumi, Kunihiko, Yamakawa, Yukiko, Kido, Mizuho A, Takaki, Atsushi, Katafuchi, Toshihiko, Tanaka, Yoshinori, Nakabeppu, Yusaku, Noda, Mami
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 30.09.2009; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: 1-Methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine - analogs & derivatives; 1-Methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine - metabolism; 4-Hydroxynonenal; Animals; Antioxidants; Apoptosis; Brain; Brain injuries; Brain injury; Cancer; Damage accumulation; Deoxyribonucleic acid; Disease Models, Animal; DNA; DNA damage; Dopamine - metabolism; Dopamine receptors; Drinking water; Genomics; Head injuries; Health aspects; Hydrogen; Hydrogen - chemistry; Laboratories; Lipid Peroxidation; Mice; Movement disorders; MPTP; Neostriatum; Neurodegeneration; Neurodegenerative diseases; Neurodegenerative Diseases - metabolism; Neurological diseases; Neurological Disorders; Neurons; Neurons - metabolism; Neuroscience/Neurobiology of Disease and Regeneration; Neurotoxicity; Nitric oxide; Oxidative Stress; Oxygen - chemistry; Parkinson Disease - metabolism; Parkinson's disease; Pathology; Peroxidation; Pharmaceutical sciences; Pharmacology; Physiology; Risk; Rodents; Superoxide; Superoxides; Tumorigenesis; Water - metabolism; Water Supply
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0007247

It has been shown that molecular hydrogen (H(2)) acts as a therapeutic antioxidant and suppresses brain injury by buffering the effects of oxidative stress. Chronic oxidative stress causes neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease (PD). Here, we show that drinking H(2)-containing water significantly reduced the loss of dopaminergic neurons in PD model mice using both acute and chronic administration of 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP). The concentration-dependency of H(2) showed that H(2) as low as 0.08 ppm had almost the same effect as saturated H(2) water (1.5 ppm). MPTP-induced accumulation of cellular 8-oxoguanine (8-oxoG), a marker of DNA damage, and 4-hydroxynonenal (4-HNE), a marker of lipid peroxidation were significantly decreased in the nigro-striatal dopaminergic pathway in mice drinking H(2)-containing water, whereas production of superoxide (O(2)*(-)) detected by intravascular injection of dihydroethidium (DHE) was not reduced significantly. Our results indicated that low concentration of H(2) in drinking water can reduce oxidative stress in the brain. Thus, drinking H(2)-containing water may be useful in daily life to prevent or minimize the risk of life style-related oxidative stress and neurodegeneration.