Therapeutic effect of methane and its mechanism in disease treatment.

Zhou-heng YE; Ke Ning; Bradley P Ander; Xue-jun Sun

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Therapeutic effect of methane and its mechanism in disease treatment.

Author: Zhou-Heng YE ¹ ; Ke NING ² ; Bradley P ANDER ³ ; Xue-Jun SUN ²
Author Information

1. Department of Aviation and Diving Medicine, the Sixth Medical Center, General Hospital of People's Liberation Army, Beijing 100048, China.
2. Department of Navy Aviation Medicine, Faculty of Naval Medicine, the Naval Military Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China.
3. Department of Neurology, University of California at Davis, Sacramento, California, USA.
Publication Type:Review
Keywords: Methane treatment; Ischemia and reperfusion injury; Inflammation; Methanogenesis
MeSH: Antioxidants/pharmacology*; Apoptosis/drug effects*; Humans; Inflammation/drug therapy*; Ischemia/drug therapy*; Methane/therapeutic use*; Reperfusion Injury/drug therapy*
From: Journal of Zhejiang University. Science. B 2020;21(8):593-602
CountryChina
Language:English
Abstract: Methane is the simplest hydrocarbon, consisting of one carbon atom and four hydrogen atoms. It is abundant in marsh gas, livestock rumination, and combustible ice. Little is known about the use of methane in human disease treatment. Current research indicates that methane is useful for treating several diseases including ischemia and reperfusion injury, and inflammatory diseases. The mechanisms underlying the protective effects of methane appear primarily to involve anti-oxidation, anti-inflammation, and anti-apoptosis. In this review, we describe the beneficial effects of methane on different diseases, summarize possible mechanisms by which methane may act in these conditions, and discuss the purpose of methane production in hypoxic conditions. Then we propose several promising directions for the future research.