Hydrogen-enriched water eliminates fine particles from the lungs and blood by enhancing phagocytic activity

Particulate matters（PM） are one of the major body burdens leading to diseases. We investigated the capacities of a hydrogen-enriched water（HW） eliminating carbon nanoparticles（CNP） and carbon microparticles（CMP） from the lungs and blood, respectively. In CNP-elimination test, rats were orally administered with purified water（PW） or HW（10 or 30 mL/kg/day） for 10 weeks. At the time point of 4 weeks, the rats were challenged with intratracheal instillation of CNP（4 mg）. CNP accumulated in the airways and alveoli, and induced inflammatory lesions. Such pneumoconiosis was markedly improved by feeding HW, while PW was ineffective. CNP-induced pneumoconiosis caused systemic hematological alterations, decreasing major inflammatory cells, but markedly increasing eosinophils,indicative of an allergic reaction, which were attenuated by treatment with HW. Such PM-eliminating and antiallergic effects of HW reduced body burden as confirmed from the facilitated recovery of body and lung weights. In CMP-clearance test, mice were orally administered with PW or HW for 7 days, and intravenously injected with CMP（300 mg/kg）. CMP was rapidly eliminated from the blood in HW-fed mice. Indeed, the phagocytic indices increased to 3.5 and 6.7 folds at 10 and 30 mL/kg of HW, in comparison with a negligible effect of PW. As a mechanism study,only HW significantly inhibited lipid peroxidation in vitro Fenton reaction-mediated ·OH-generating system.Collectively, the results indicate that HW not only effectively eliminated PM from the lungs and blood by enhancing phagocytic activity, but also attenuated the lung injuries by inhibiting lipid peroxidation.

Effects of a soybean milk product on feto-neonatal development in rats

Since estrogenic pollutants and phytoestrogens can cause the disorder of the reproductive system, the effects of a soybean milk product（Vegemil^（？） containing 162 ppm isoflavones） on the feto-neonatal development, including male reproductive function, were investigated. Pregnant rats were fed the soybean milk（5% or 100% in drinking water）from gestational day（GD） 6 to parturition or to post-natal day（PND） 56. Specifically, the rats were divided into 4 groups： the control group（drinking water）, the GD5% group（5% soybean milk during only the GD period）, the GDPND5% group（5% soybean milk during the GD and PND periods）, and the GD-PND100% group（100% soybean milk instead of water during the GD and PND periods）. During the gestational, lactational, and developmental periods, the reproductive and developmental parameters of dams and offspring were observed. Feeding soybean milk did not affect the birth and physical development of both male and female offspring. At PND57, the weights of the testes and epididymides of F1 males significantly increased by feeding a high concentration of the soybean milk（GDPND100%）. In addition, feeding of the soybean milk during both the GD and PND periods（GD-PND5% and GDPND100%） enhanced the sperm counts and motility. The results indicate that soybean milk is safe for embryos,fetuses, and offspring, and improves the post-generational development of male reproductive function.