Hydrogen, a potential safeguard for graft-versus-host disease and graft ischemia-reperfusion injury?

Abstract

Post-transplant complications such as graft-versus-host disease and graft ischemia-reperfusion injury are crucial challenges in transplantation. Hydrogen can act as a potential antioxidant, playing a preventive role against post-transplant complications in animal models of multiple organ transplantation. Herein, the authors review the current literature regarding the effects of hydrogen on graft ischemia-reperfusion injury and graft-versus-host disease. Existing data on the effects of hydrogen on ischemia-reperfusion injury related to organ transplantation are specifically reviewed and coupled with further suggestions for future work. The reviewed studies showed that hydrogen (inhaled or dissolved in saline) improved the outcomes of organ transplantation by decreasing oxidative stress and inflammation at both the transplanted organ and the systemic levels. In conclusion, a substantial body of experimental evidence suggests that hydrogen can significantly alleviate transplantation-related ischemia-reperfusion injury and have a therapeutic effect on graft-versus-host disease, mainly via inhibition of inflammatory cytokine secretion and reduction of oxidative stress through several underlying mechanisms. Further animal experiments and preliminary human clinical trials will lay the foundation for hydrogen use as a drug in the clinic.

Inhalation of Hydrogen Attenuates Progression of Chronic Heart Failure via Suppression of Oxidative Stress and P53 Related to Apoptosis Pathway in Rats

“…From then on, accumulating evidence has shown the protective action of H 2 in various disease models ( Guo et al, 2015 ; Kishimoto et al, 2015 ), including the infarct size of heart and brain by reducing ischemia-reperfusion injury without changing hemodynamic index, and protection against multiple-organ damage arising from generalized inflammation ( Hayashida et al, 2008 ; Zhai et al, 2013 ; Miller and Sadeh, 2014 ). Some primary clinical trials also were performed in recently years ( Ostojic et al, 2014 ; Yuan and Shen, 2016 ). About cardiovascular diseases, most H 2 -delivery ways were hydrogen-rich saline injection, which is not convenient.…”

Redox Effects of Molecular Hydrogen and Its Therapeutic Efficacy in the Treatment of Neurodegenerative Diseases

“…H 2 is highly reactive, protein denaturing, and promotes DNA breakdown. It can selectively reduce •OH and ONOO-, causing a widespread reaction with proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids [49]. Based on animal models and clinical observations, an accumulated body of evidence has shown that H 2 can be efficiently used to protect against oxidative damage-associated diseases [50].…”

Repositioning Natural Antioxidants for Therapeutic Applications in Tissue Engineering

“…Accordingly, there is an increasing body of literature suggesting that the production of ROS and subsequent cellular response to oxidative Bioengineering 2020, 7, 104 2 of 35 stress are important for engraftment success [10]. Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), for example, has been correlated to oxidative stress [11]. Indeed, tissue-engineered grafts are vulnerable to rising ROS levels (Figure 1), with reperfusion injury following ischemia reported in organ and tissue engineering transplantation [12,13].…”