Effects of the long-term consumption of hydrogen-rich water on the antioxidant activity and the gut flora in female juvenile soccer players from Suzhou, China

Abstract

Expending a considerable amount of physical energy inevitably leads to fatigue during both training and competition in football. An increasing number of experimental findings have confirmed the relationship between the generation and clearance of free radicals, fatigue, and exercise injury. Recently, hydrogen was identified as a new selective antioxidant with potential beneficial applications in sports. The present study evaluated the effect of 2-month consumption of hydrogen-rich water on the gut flora in juvenile female soccer players from Suzhou. As demonstrated by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay and 16S rDNA sequence analysis of stool samples, the consumption of hydrogen-rich water for two months significantly reduced serum malondialdehyde, interleukin-1, interleukin-6, tumour necrosis factor-α levels; then significantly increased serum superoxide dismutase, total antioxidant capacity levels and haemoglobin levels of whole blood. Furthermore, the consumption of hydrogen-rich water improved the diversity and abundance of the gut flora in athletes. All examined indices, including the shannon, sobs, ace, and chao indices, were higher in the control group than those proposed to result from hydrogen-rich water consumption prior to the trial, but these indices were all reversed and were higher than those in the controls after the 2-month intervention. Nevertheless, there were some differences in the gut flora components of these two groups before the trial, whereas there were no significant changes in the gut flora composition during the trial period. Thus, the consumption of hydrogen-rich water for two months might play a role modulating in the gut flora of athletes based on its selective antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. The study protocol was approved by the ethics committee of the Suzhou Sports School (approved number: SSS-EC150903).

Molecular hydrogen is comparable to sulfasalazine as a treatment for DSS-induced colitis in mice

“…Dysregulation of the microbiome represents an important factor for numerous pathologies and conditions including colitis (Shen et al, 2018[ 26 ]). Although not investigated in our study, several studies suggest that HRW favorably modulates and improves the microbiome in mice (Higashimura et al, 2018[ 9 ]; Xiao et al, 2018[ 28 ]), goats (Wang et al, 2017[ 27 ]), piglets (Zheng et al, 2018[ 30 ]), and humans (Sha et al, 2018[ 24 ]). Accordingly, HRW may have promoted improved microbiome homeostasis in the DSS-induced colitis mice, contributing to the favorable effects observed in our study.…”

Hydrogen Water: Extra Healthy or a Hoax?—A Systematic Review

“…After 8 weeks, serum malondialdehyde levels decreased from 13.80 ± 3.33 to 12.69 ± 1.94 µM in the hydrogen-rich water group and from 16.67 ± 4.19 to 15.79 ± 3.07 µM in the control group (p = 0.000). In the same period, the interleukin-1 levels went up from 29.32 ± 7.09 µM to 34.47 ± 6.22 µM in the hydrogen-rich water group and from 32.56 ± 7.61 to 42.94 ± 6.24 µM in the control group (p = 0.002) [13]. The levels of interleukin-6 increased from 8.74 ± 2.57 to 12.37 ± 3.2 ng/L in the hydrogen-rich water group and from 10.53 ± 1.62 ng/L to 24.88 ± 6.11 ng/L in the hydrogen-rich water group after 8 weeks (p = 0.000).…”

“…Oxidative stress has a vital role in the development of inflammation [3]. A study was undertaken on female juvenile soccer players from Suzhou, China, with the consumption of hydrogen-rich water for 2 months in the treatment group, which showed changes in serum malondialdehyde, interleukin-1, interleukin-6, and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) levels, with an increase in serum superoxide dismutase and total antioxidant capacity levels [13]. After 8 weeks, serum malondialdehyde levels decreased from 13.80 ± 3.33 to 12.69 ± 1.94 µM in the hydrogen-rich water group and from 16.67 ± 4.19 to 15.79 ± 3.07 µM in the control group (p = 0.000).…”

Chemical Contamination Pathways and the Food Safety Implications along the Various Stages of Food Production: A Review

“…At the consumer level, the influx of illegal food additives is perceived differently. Further, consumers’ usage of food additives may be influenced by the market anchor price [ 25 , 35 , 36 ]. Essentially, their decision to use or not use additives is determined by intuition and experience due to their lack of expertise in food safety [ 34 ].…”