Effect of hydrogen-rich water on the angiogenesis in lesion boundary brain tissue of traumatic brain injury-challenged rats

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide and leads serious longterm disability. To determine the effect of hydrogen-rich water on the angiogenesis in the lesion boundary brain tissue of TBI-challenged rats, 54 adult male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were used and randomly divided into three groups: sham-operated, TBI (Traumatic brain injury) and TBI+HW (Traumatic brain injury + hydrogen-rich water). After inducing TBI, neurological severity scores (NSS), hematoxylin-eosin staining, immunohistochemical analysis, western blot analysis and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) were performed. As a result, at 3rd d and 7th d after injury, NSS of TBI+HW rats significantly decreased (P<0.05); at 24 h and 3rd d after injury, pathological changes in lesion boundary brain tissue of TBI rats were characterized by obvious hemorrhagic necrosis, severe brain edema, loose neural substrates, and the pathological changes were more obvious at 3rd d. In comparison with the TBI group, edema volume was lower in TBI+HW rats. At 7th d after injury, newborn blood capillary hyperplasia in TBI+HW was significantly higher than that in TBI (P<0.01). At each time-point, the expression of HIF-1α and VEGF protein and mRNA in TBI+HW significantly increased than that in TBI (P<0.01/P<0.05) and both significantly higher than that in the sham group (P<0.01). Hydrogen-rich water promotes angiogenesis and improves nerve function via up-regulating the expression of HIF-1α and VEGF, which may offer a promising opportunity to improve clinical effects during brain functional recovery.