Background and Aim: Acute oxidative stress directly contributes to tissue injury. Hydrogen molecule with the rapid penetration is able to penetrate the biomembranes and diffuse into the cytosol. Moreover, H2 passes through the blood-brain barrier, although most antioxidant compounds cannot; this is also an advantage of H2. The aim of this article was to review the literature regarding the effect of hydrogen molecules on the auditory system.
Material & Methods: We searched Medline, Google Scholar, PubMed and SID search engines with the "antioxidant" and "hydrogen" keywords and read textbooks about this subject between 1973 and 2012.
Conclusion: Hydrogen molecule as an antioxidant potentially has numerous benefits including rapid diffusion into tissues and cells. Also, it is mild enough neither to disturb metabolic redox reactions nor to affect reactive oxygen species that function in cell signaling, and the action mechanism of the hydrogen molecule is performed via a decrease of the enzymes involved in apoptosis and inflammation.
Keywords: Oxidative stress, antioxidant, free Radical, Blood-brain barrier, Hydrogen molecule