Jiafeng Yu
Anesthesiology researcher at Tianjin Medical University General Hospital and first author of a mouse study showing that breathing hydrogen gas protects memory after sepsis by calming mTOR in brain support cells
Department of Anesthesia, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital · Tianjin Institute of Anesthesiology (at the time of the study, 2026)
Sepsis is a body-wide reaction to infection that can damage the brain, and survivors often have long-lasting problems with memory and thinking. In the Atlas study YU2026, Yu and colleagues used a mouse model of sepsis and looked at the medial prefrontal cortex, a brain region for planning and memory. mTOR was overactive there, and this stopped oligodendrocyte precursor cells from maturing into the cells that wrap nerve fibres in myelin, the insulation that speeds up signals. The mice lost myelin and did worse in a water maze memory test.
Breathing a high concentration of hydrogen gas lowered mTOR activity, restored oligodendrocyte maturation and myelin, and improved memory. Rapamycin, which blocks mTOR, had a similar protective effect, and a drug that switches mTOR on (NV-5138) was used to check the mechanism. For the Atlas, this is an example where too much mTOR activity is harmful in the brain. All of the work was done in mice.
Jiafeng Yu is listed in the Department of Anesthesia, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, and the Tianjin Institute of Anesthesiology, in the group of Yang Yu and Yonghao Yu, which has studied hydrogen therapy in sepsis for several years. No other publication could be tied to this name with confidence.
Milestones in the Atlas
A selection, not a full bibliography: only papers that meet the Atlas inclusion criteria.
| Year | Evidence | Study |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | A | High-concentration hydrogen mitigates cognitive impairment in a murine model of Sepsis-associated encephalopathy by enhancing oligodendrocyte maturation and myelination in the mPFC YU2026 First author: showed in septic mice that mTOR overactivity blocks myelin repair in the prefrontal cortex and that hydrogen gas or rapamycin restores myelin and memory. |
Co-authors in the Atlas 1
People with a profile here who share at least one study with Jiafeng Yu.
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- Yang Yu Anesthesiologist and researcher at Tianjin Medical University General Hospital who studies hydrogen gas as a treatment for sepsis and its brain damage, and co-senior author of the 2026 study linking hydrogen, mTOR and myelin repair
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