Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Efficacy and safety of hydrogen gas versus standard therapy in Chinese patients with cerebral infarction: A pilot study

Wenjuan Yao¹, Likui Shen², Zhaoxi Ma³, Jie Zhao¹, Lei Liu⁴, Zhengfu Wang⁵, Bao Hu⁶

¹Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Kunshan Jinxi People's Hospital, Kunshan 215324, China; ²Department of Neurosurgery, Suzhou Kowloon Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Suzhou 266021, Jiangsu Province, China; ³Department of Neurology, The Affiliated Kunshan Hospital of Jiangsu University, Suzhou 215300, China; ⁴Department of Geriatrics, The Affiliated Kunshan Hospital of Jiangsu University, Suzhou 215300, China; ⁵Department of Geriatrics, Kunshan Jinxi people's Hospital, Kunshan 215324, Jiangsu Province, China; ⁶Department of Neurology Rehabilitation, Kunshan Rehabilitation Hospital, Suzhou, 215300, China.

For correspondence:- Bao Hu Email: Bao_hu_128@hotmail.com Tel:+86051255253930

Accepted: 28 February 2022 Published: 31 March 2022

Citation: Yao W, Shen L, Ma Z, Zhao J, Liu L, Wang Z, et al. Efficacy and safety of hydrogen gas versus standard therapy in Chinese patients with cerebral infarction: A pilot study. Trop J Pharm Res 2022; 21(3):665-671 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v21i3.29

© 2022 The authors.
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..

Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of hydrogen (H₂) gas versus standard therapy in Chinese patients with acute cerebral infarction (ACI)

Method: Chinese patients with ACI who had National Institutes of Health stroke scale (NIHSS) scores of 2 - 6 were enrolled and randomized to receive hydrogen gas through inhalation route or standard therapy. Hydrogen gas (3 %) was administered twice daily for 1 hour each over a period of 2 weeks using a facial mask (non-rebreathing). Standard treatment included edaravone 30 mg (iv every 12 h + antiplatelet drugs for 2 weeks. Efficacy endpoints were change in vital signs, change in NIHSS scores from baseline, change in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) signal intensity, and improvement in rehabilitation index. Safety was also assessed.

Results: Data for 200 patients were analyzed. Patients treated with H₂ gas had significantly greater improvement in NIHSS score than patients treated with standard therapy. This indicates that the neurological improvement was significantly greater in patients treated with H₂ gas than those that received standard therapy for all the days tested (p < 0.05). The onset of NIHSS score reduction was faster in patients treated with H₂ gas when compared to standard therapy. Furthermore, H₂ gas demonstrated significant improvement in MRI signal Intensity score, which indicates that H₂ gas was effective in recovery of infraction site.

Conclusion: The findings of this study show that H₂ gas administered via the inhalation route is effective and safe in Chinese patients with acute cerebral infarction, and is therefore, superior to standard therapy.??????

Keywords: Acute cerebral infarction, Hydrogen gas, Rehabilitation index, MRI, NIHSS