Evaluation of the safety and potential lipid-lowering effects of oral hydrogen-rich coral calcium (HRCC) capsules in patients with metabolic syndrome: a prospective case series study.

Background: Metabolic syndrome is characterized by a cluster-like occurrence of conditions such as hypertension, hyperglycaemia, elevated low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol or triglycerides (TG) and high visceral fat. Metabolic syndrome is linked to the build-up of plaque within the artery, which leads to disorders of the circulatory, nervous and immune systems. A variety of treatments target the regulation of these conditions; nevertheless, they remain dominant risk factors for the development of type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and cardiovascular disease (CVD), which affect 26.9% of the US population. Management and intervention strategies for improving cholesterol and/or TG are worthwhile, and recent studies on hydrogen treatment are promising, particularly as molecular hydrogen is easily ingested. This study aimed to investigate the lipid-lowering effects and quality of life (QOL) improvement of hydrogen-rich coral calcium (HRCC) in patients with metabolic syndrome. Methods: The patients, all Taiwanese, were randomly assigned to 3 different doses (low, medium, and high) of HRCC capsules. The primary outcome was the adverse effects/symptoms during this 4-week use of HRCC capsules. The secondary outcome was lipid profile changes. Complete blood count, inflammatory biomarkers, and QOL were also measured before and after the course of HRCC. Results: Sixteen patients with metabolic syndrome completed this study (7 males, 9 females; mean age: 62 years; range: 32-80). No obvious adverse effects were recorded. Only changes in blood TG reached significance. The baseline TG value was 193.19 µL (SD = 107.44), which decreased to 151.75 µL (SD = 45.27) after 4 weeks of HRCC (p = 0.04). QOL showed no significant changes. Conclusion: This study is the first human clinical trial evaluating HRCC capsules in patients with metabolic syndrome. Based on the safety and potential TG-lowering effects of short-term HRCC, further long-term investigations of HRCC are warranted. Clinical trial registration: [ClinicalTrials.gov], identifier [NCT05196295].

The effects of hydrogen treatment in a cigarette smoke solution-induced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease-like changes in an animal model.

Background: Molecular hydrogen, with its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, may be suitable for the prevention and treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This study aims to investigate the therapeutic efficacy of hydrogen-oxygen (H2/O2) treatment in cigarette smoke solution (CSS)-induced COPD-like injury in a female BALB/c mouse model. Methods: Thirty mice were randomly assigned to three groups: Control (n=8), COPD (n=10), and COPD + H2/O2 (n=12). CSS was administered by intraperitoneal (IP) injection twice weekly for 6 weeks during the COPD induction phase. Simultaneously, the COPD + H2/O2 group started received 75 minutes of inhalation therapy (42% H2) delivered by the Oxy-Hydrogen Generator twice daily for 9 weeks. Mice body weights and survival were measured throughout the study period. Neutrophil elastase (NE) activity and lung histopathological changes were also evaluated. Results: The results showed a higher survival rate in the COPD + H2/O2 group compared to the COPD group (100% vs. 80%) during the induction phase. Slight decreases in body weight gains were observed in the COPD and COPD + H2/O2 groups during the first 15 days of the induction phase, but there was no significant difference in mean body weights among the three groups throughout the study period. NE activity was numerically lower in the COPD + H2/O2 group compared to the COPD group. The histopathological evaluation showed significant improvements in the H2/O2-treated mice with respect to mean linear intercept (MLI) and lesion (inflammation and emphysema) scores. Improvements in goblet cell hypertrophy and hyperplasia of airway epithelium were not significant. Conclusions: A 9-week H2/O2 inhalation therapy delivered by the Oxy-Hydrogen Generator to CSS-induced COPD-like injury in mice showed improvement in survival rate, alveolar structural changes, and histopathological lesion scores of the lung.

Anti-inflammatory and anti-osteoarthritis effects of Cm-02 and Ck-02.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common degenerative joint disease characterized by progressive deterioration of articular cartilage. There have been reports that small molecule inhibitors have anti-osteoarthritis effects; however, the effects of 3-(4-chloro-2-fluorophenyl)-6-(2,4-difluorophenyl)-2H-benzo[e] [1,3]oxazine-2,4(3H)-dione (Cm-02) and 6-(2,4-difluorophenyl)-3-(3,4-difluorophenyl)-2H-benzo[e] [1,3]oxazine-2,4(3H)-dione (Ck-02), small molecule inhibitors which share many structural similarities with quercetin (a potent anti-inflammatory flavonoid), remain unclear. In this study, TNF-α-stimulated porcine and human chondrocyte models were used to investigate the inhibitory effects of Cm-02 and Ck-02 on the molecular mechanisms underlying the anti-OA effects. TNF-α was used to stimulate porcine and human chondrocytes to mimic immunomodulatory potency in-vitro. Anti-osteoarthritic effects were characterized in terms of protein and mRNA levels associated with the pathogenesis of OA. We also examined (1) the inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS)-nitric oxide (NO) system in cultured chondrocytes, (2) matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) in cultured chondrocytes, and (3) aggrecan degradation in cartilage explants. Finally, we tested the activation of nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-κB), interferon regulatory factor-1 (IRF-1), and activate the protein-1 (AP-1), and we tested the signal transduction and activation of transcription-3 (STAT-3). Our results indicate that, in chondrocytes, Cm-02 and Ck-02 inhibit TNF-α induced NO production, iNOS, MMP, the expression of disintegrin and metalloproteinase with thrombospondin motifs (ADAMTS), and the enzyme activity of MMP-13. Furthermore, both Cm-02 and Ck-02 were found to stimulate TNF-α, which has been shown to suppress the activation of several transcription factors, including NF-κB, STAT-3, and IRF-1 in porcine and human chondrocytes. Cm-02 and Ck-02 were also found to help prevent the release of proteoglycans from cartilage explants. Our findings demonstrate that both Cm-02 and Ck-02 have potent anti-inflammatory activities and the ability to protect cartilage in an OA cell model. These findings indicate that Cm-02 and Ck-02 have the potential to be further developed for the therapeutic treatment of OA.

Arthroprotective Effects of Cf-02 Sharing Structural Similarity with Quercetin.

In this study, we synthesized hundreds of analogues based on the structure of small-molecule inhibitors (SMIs) that were previously identified in our laboratory with the aim of identifying potent yet safe compounds for arthritis therapeutics. One of the analogues was shown to share structural similarity with quercetin, a potent anti-inflammatory flavonoid present in many different fruits and vegetables. We investigated the immunomodulatory effects of this compound, namely 6-(2,4-difluorophenyl)-3-(3-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)-2H-benzo[e][1,3]oxazine-2,4(3H)-dione (Cf-02), in a side-by-side comparison with quercetin. Chondrocytes were isolated from pig joints or the joints of patients with osteoarthritis that had undergone total knee replacement surgery. Several measures were used to assess the immunomodulatory potency of these compounds in tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α)-stimulated chondrocytes. Characterization included the protein and mRNA levels of molecules associated with arthritis pathogenesis as well as the inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS)⁻nitric oxide (NO) system and matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) in cultured chondrocytes and proteoglycan, and aggrecan degradation in cartilage explants. We also examined the activation of several important transcription factors, including nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-κB), interferon regulatory factor-1 (IRF-1), signal transducer and activator of transcription-3 (STAT-3), and activator protein-1 (AP-1). Our overall results indicate that the immunomodulatory potency of Cf-02 is fifty-fold more efficient than that of quercetin without any indication of cytotoxicity. When tested in vivo using the induced edema method, Cf-02 was shown to suppress inflammation and cartilage damage. The proposed method shows considerable promise for the identification of candidate disease-modifying immunomodulatory drugs and leads compounds for arthritis therapeutics.