Can the Most Abundant Element in the Universe Help to Tackle Diabetes?

Abstract

Hydrogen is the simplest, the oldest, and the most abundant element in the Universe; it was originally created about 3 min after the Big Bang, with all the other chemical elements that we know were made up of hydrogen. Being here for such a long time, hydrogen lately appears to find its place in experimental medicine, emerging as an exciting innovative agent that might tackle diabetes and diabetes-related conditions. Administered either enterally or parenterally, hydrogen normalizes the oral glucose tolerance test in the patients suffering from type 2 diabetes mellitus [1], preserves bone volume and decreases fracture risks caused by diabetes mellitus [2], and prevents neurovascular dysfunction and diabetic retinopathy [3]. On top of that, hydrogen has shown superior efficiency in improving insulin sensitivity and lowering blood glucose as compared to pioglitazone [4], a conventional medication used to treat diabetes mellitus type 2. Although the exact mechanism of hydrogen action is still unknown, above “antidiabetic” effects are probably due to the translocation of glucose transporter to sarcolemma through hydrogen-driven activation of protein kinases, the effects similar to those of insulin. Hydrogen also acts as a therapeutic antioxidant that selectively reduces diabetes-induced cytotoxic oxygen radicals [4], a root cause in the development of diabetes complications. Those preliminary findings appear promising, yet the most plentiful element in the Universe needs to pass quite a few hurdles before deemed suitable to patients with diabetes. Namely, hydrogen therapy is not appropriately characterized with regard to the pharmacovigilance, dose-ranging, or formal legislation at the present time. Even so, there are many hydrogen products widely available in the market, from inhalation units to hydrogen-rich water machines to oral specifics; most claim to supply hydrogen for the use in metabolic disorders (including diabetes), while hydrogen amount varies greatly across the different products (from 0.1 to 10 ppm). Having this in mind, a diabetes patient should be made aware of this discrepancy between a lack of the official approval based on quality control and legal standards for drugs, and hyped marketing claims. A health professional thus should categorize hydrogen as an experimental agent and does not advocate its use in diabetes management at the moment.