Basic Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2022. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastrointest Oncol. Jan 15, 2022; 14(1): 242-252
Published online Jan 15, 2022. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.v14.i1.242
Hydrogen-rich water exerts anti-tumor effects comparable to 5-fluorouracil in a colorectal cancer xenograft model
Fereshteh Asgharzadeh, Alex Tarnava, Asma Mostafapour, Majid Khazaei, Tyler W LeBaron
Fereshteh Asgharzadeh, Majid Khazaei, Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad 9177899191, Iran
Alex Tarnava, Drink HRW, New Westminster, BC V3j0b6 Canada
Asma Mostafapour, Department of Medical Genetics and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad 9177899191, Iran
Tyler W LeBaron, Centre of Experimental Medicine, Institute for Heart Research Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava 984104, Slovakia
Tyler W LeBaron, Department of Kinesiology and Outdoor Recreation, Southern Utah University, UT 84720, United States
Tyler W LeBaron, Biological Research, Molecular Hydrogen Institute, UT 84721, United States
Tyler W LeBaron, Department of Physical Science, Southern Utah University, UT 84720, United States
Author contributions: All authors were involved in design of experiment; Asgharzadeh F, Mostafapour A, and Khazaei M carried out the experiments and wrote the methods and results sections; Tarnava A and LeBaron TW wrote the background, discussion and conclusion; and all authors agree to final manuscript.
Supported by the HRW Natural Health Products Inc. (dba Drink HRW), as well as by a grant from Mashhad University of Medical Sciences.
Institutional review board statement: The Mashhad University of Medical Sciences Committee on Animal Ethics has approved all animal protocols used in this research.
Institutional animal care and use committee statement: The Mashhad University of Medical Sciences Committee on Animal Ethics has approved all animal protocols used in this research. Reference Number: 991229; Date: July 10, 2020.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Tarnava A is involved in commercial entities with interest in the marketing of hydrogen-rich water; LeBaron TW has received travel reimbursement, honoraria, and speaking and consultancy fees from various academic and commercial entities regarding molecular hydrogen. All other authors report no conflict of interest.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
ARRIVE guidelines statement: The authors have read the ARRIVE Guidelines, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the ARRIVE Guidelines.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Tyler W LeBaron, BSc, MSc, Director, Instructor, Research Scientist, Centre of Experimental Medicine, Institute for Heart Research Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 9, 841 04 Bratislava, Slovak Republic, Bratislava 984104, Slovakia. lebaront@molecularhydrogeninstitute.com
Received: May 19, 2021
Peer-review started: May 19, 2021
First decision: June 16, 2021
Revised: June 30, 2021
Accepted: December 7, 2021
Article in press: December 7, 2021
Published online: January 15, 2022
Core Tip

Core Tip: Colorectal cancer is a leading cause of death and is often treated with the chemotherapy drug, 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), which has some unwanted side effects. Molecular hydrogen (H2 gas) has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cancer effects. H2 gas can be dissolved in water to make hydrogen-rich water (HRW). The effects of HRW, 5-FU and the combination of HRW and 5-FU in a colorectal-cancer mouse model were examined. HRW and 5-FU decreased tumor size and weight with the combination being the most effective. In contrast to 5-FU, HRW attenuated oxidative stress and improved antioxidant activity.