DR. SHIGEO OHTA, PHD., (NIPPON MEDICAL SCHOOL)

  

“When I was exploring an ideal anti-oxidant that lacks adverse effects, I came across hydrogen. By the first experiment on January 2005, I was amazed at the great protective effects of hydrogen against oxidative stress and decided to devote my life to hydrogen medicine. In 2007, we succeeded in the publication of the first paper in Nature Medicine. This first paper was accepted with a surprise and some doubts, but we overcame them by continuous publications. My mission is to develop not only hydrogen medical sciences, but also hydrogen industry as the pioneer of hydrogen medicine.”

Dr. Shigeo Ohta, Nippon Medical School, Graduate School of Medicine.

Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Cell, Biology, Institute of Development and Aging Sciences, Graduate School of Medicine, Nippon Medical School.

Specialized fields

Hydrogen medicine, Anti-aging, Mitochondrogy.

Career Summary

  • 1970-1974 Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Tokyo University, Japan
  • 1974-1979 Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Tokyo University, Japan.
  • 1979-1981 Research associate in Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, Japan
  • 1981-1985 Research Associate, Biocenter, University of Basel, Switzerland.
  • 1985-1994 Lecture and Associate Professor of Biochemistry, Jichi Medical School, Japan
  • 1994-present Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Graduate School of Medicine, Nippon Medical School, Japan.

Research Thema

  • Molecular mechanism on hydrogen medicine.
  • Drug discovery on mitochondrial diseases.
  • Visualization and real-time monitoring of oxidative stress.

Selected Hydrogen Studies

(1)Hydrogen acts as a therapeutic antioxidant by selectively reducing cytotoxic oxygen radicals.
Ohsawa I, Ishikawa M, Takahashi K, Watanabe M, Nishimaki K, Yamagata K, Katsura K, Katayama Y, Asoh S, Ohta S.
Nat Med. 2007 Jun;13(6):688-94. Epub 2007 May 7.

(2)Consumption of molecular hydrogen prevents the stress-induced impairments in hippocampus-dependent learning tasks during chronic physical restraint in mice.
Nagata K, Nakashima-Kamimura N, Mikami T, Ohsawa I, Ohta S.
Neuropsychopharmacology. 2009 Jan;34(2):501-8. doi: 10.1038/npp.2008.95. Epub 2008 Jun 18.

(3)Molecular hydrogen improves obesity and diabetes by inducing hepatic FGF21 and stimulating energy metabolism in db/db mice.
Kamimura N, Nishimaki K, Ohsawa I, Ohta S.
Obesity (Silver Spring). 2011 Jul;19(7):1396-403. doi: 10.1038/oby.2011.6. Epub 2011 Feb 3.

(4)Molecular hydrogen as a preventive and therapeutic medical gas: initiation, development and potential of hydrogen medicine.
Ohta S.
Pharmacol Ther. 2014 Oct;144(1):1-11. doi: 10.1016/j.pharmthera.2014.04.006. Epub 2014 Apr 24.

(5)Hydrogen inhalation during normoxic resuscitation improves neurological outcome in a rat model of cardiac arrest independently of targeted temperature management.
Hayashida K, Sano M, Kamimura N, Yokota T, Suzuki M, Ohta S, Fukuda K, Hori S.
Circulation. 2014 Dec 9;130(24):2173-80. doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.114.011848. Epub 2014 Nov 3.

Selected Additional Studies

(1) Real-time monitoring of oxidative stress in live mouse skin.
Wolf AM, Nishimaki K, Kamimura N, Ohta S.
J Invest Dermatol. 2014 Jun;134(6):1701-9. doi: 10.1038/jid.2013.428. Epub 2013 Oct 15.

(2) Taurine ameliorates impaired the mitochondrial function and prevents stroke-like episodes in patients with MELAS.
Rikimaru M, Ohsawa Y, Wolf AM, Nishimaki K, Ichimiya H, Kamimura N, Nishimatsu S, Ohta S, Sunada Y.
Intern Med. 2012;51(24):3351-7. Epub 2012 Dec 15.

(3)Positive contribution of pathogenic mutations in the mitochondrial genome to the promotion of cancer by prevention from apoptosis.
Shidara Y, Yamagata K, Kanamori T, Nakano K, Kwong JQ, Manfredi G, Oda H, Ohta S.
Cancer Res. 2005 Mar 1;65(5):1655-63.

(4)Age-dependent neurodegeneration accompanying memory loss in transgenic mice defective in mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 activity.
Ohsawa I, Nishimaki K, Murakami Y, Suzuki Y, Ishikawa M, Ohta S.
J Neurosci. 2008 Jun 11;28(24):6239-49. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4956-07.2008.

(5)Protection against ischemic brain injury by protein therapeutics.
Asoh S, Ohsawa I, Mori T, Katsura K, Hiraide T, Katayama Y, Kimura M, Ozaki D, Yamagata K, Ohta S.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2002 Dec 24;99(26):17107-12. Epub 2002 Dec 10.