In early 2025, researchers from the University of Washington and Brigham and Women’s Hospital (a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School) revealed an unprecedented method for treating Alzheimer’s disease – inhaling xenon gas, which not only inhibits neuroinflammation and reduces brain atrophy, but also increases protective neuronal states.

Xenon and Neuroprotection

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common neurodegenerative disease in humans, and its cause is believed to be related to the accumulation of tau protein and beta-amyloid protein in the brain. Although there have been drugs that try to remove these toxic proteins, they have not been effective in slowing the progression of the disease. Therefore, neither the root cause of the disease nor the treatment is fully understood.

Studies have shown that inhaled xenon can cross the blood-brain barrier and significantly improve the status of mice with Alzheimer’s disease models under laboratory conditions. The experiment was divided into two groups, one group of mice showed tau protein accumulation and the other group had beta-amyloid protein accumulation. The experimental results showed that xenon not only made the mice more active, but also promoted the protective response of microglia, which are essential for clearing tau and beta-amyloid proteins.

This new discovery is very novel, showing that neuroprotective effects can be produced simply by inhaling an inert gas. A major limitation in the field of Alzheimer’s research and treatment is that it is extremely difficult to design drugs that can cross the blood-brain barrier, and xenon can do this.

Other medical applications of xenon

1. Anesthesia and analgesia: As an ideal anesthetic gas, xenon is widely used because of its rapid induction and recovery, good cardiovascular stability and low risk of side effects;

2. Neuroprotective effect: In addition to the potential therapeutic effect on Alzheimer’s disease mentioned above, xenon has also been studied to reduce brain damage caused by neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE);

3. Organ transplantation and protection: Xenon may help protect donor organs from ischemia-reperfusion injury, which is very important for improving the success rate of transplantation;

4. Radiotherapy sensitization: Some preliminary studies have shown that xenon may be able to enhance the sensitivity of tumors to radiotherapy, which provides a new strategy for cancer treatment;