Secor Eric R, Shah Sonali J, Guernsey Linda A, Schramm Craig M, Thrall Roger S
Department of Immunology, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, CT, USA.
Altern Ther Health Med. 2012 Sep-Oct;18(5):9-17.
Allergic asthma continues to increase despite new pharmacological advances for both acute treatment and chronic-disease management. Asthma is a multifactorial disease process with genetic, allergic, infectious, environmental, and dietary origins. Researchers are investigating the benefits of lifestyle changes and alternative asthma treatments, including the ability of bromelain to inhibit inflammation. Bromelain is a commonly used, proteolytically active pineapple extract.
The present study intended to determine the ability of bromelain to reduce the inflammation of preexisting asthma via an ovalbumin (OVA)-induced murine model of allergic airway disease (AAD).
The research team designed a study examining the effects of bromelain in a control group of mice that received phosphate buffered saline (PBS) only and in an intervention group that received bromelain in PBS. Setting The study took place in the Department of Immunology at the University of Connecticut's School of Medicine, Farmington. Intervention The research team sensitized female C57BL/6J mice with intraperitoneal OVA/alum and then challenged them with OVA aerosolization for 10 consecutive days. On day 4, the team began administering daily doses of PBS to the control group (n = 10) and bromelain (6mg/kg) in PBS to the bromelain (intervention) group (n = 10).
The primary measures included bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) cellular differential, cellular phenotype via flow cytometry, and lung histology. Additional outcomes included testing for serum cytokines and immunoglobulin.
Bromelain treatment of AAD mice (bromelain group) resulted in significant anti-inflammatory activity as indicated by reduced BAL total leukocytes (P < .05), eosinophils (P < .05), and cellular infiltrates via lung pathology (P < .005), as compared to the control group. In addition, bromelain significantly reduced BAL CD4+ and CD8+ T cells without affecting cell numbers in the spleen or hilar lymph node. The study found decreased interleukins IL-4, IL-12, IL-17, as well as IFN-α in the serum of bromelain-treated animals.
The results suggest that bromelain has a therapeutic effect in established AAD, which may translate into an effective adjunctive therapy in patients with similar conditions, such as allergic asthma, who have chosen to initiate treatment after the onset of symptoms.
尽管在急性治疗和慢性病管理方面有了新的药理学进展，但过敏性哮喘仍在持续增加。哮喘是一种具有遗传、过敏、感染、环境和饮食根源的多因素疾病过程。研究人员正在研究生活方式改变和替代哮喘治疗方法的益处，包括菠萝蛋白酶抑制炎症的能力。菠萝蛋白酶是一种常用的、具有蛋白水解活性的菠萝提取物。
本研究旨在通过卵清蛋白（OVA）诱导的小鼠过敏性气道疾病（AAD）模型，确定菠萝蛋白酶减轻已存在哮喘炎症的能力。
研究团队设计了一项研究，观察菠萝蛋白酶对仅接受磷酸盐缓冲盐水（PBS）的对照组小鼠和接受PBS中菠萝蛋白酶的干预组小鼠的影响。地点：该研究在康涅狄格大学医学院法明顿分校的免疫学系进行。干预：研究团队用腹腔注射OVA/明矾使雌性C57BL/6J小鼠致敏，然后连续10天用OVA雾化对其进行激发。在第4天，研究团队开始给对照组（n = 10）每日注射PBS，给菠萝蛋白酶（干预）组（n = 10）每日注射PBS中的菠萝蛋白酶（6mg/kg）。
主要指标包括支气管肺泡灌洗（BAL）细胞分类、通过流式细胞术检测细胞表型以及肺组织学检查。其他结果包括检测血清细胞因子和免疫球蛋白。
与对照组相比，用菠萝蛋白酶治疗AAD小鼠（菠萝蛋白酶组）产生了显著的抗炎活性，表现为BAL总白细胞减少（P < .05）、嗜酸性粒细胞减少（P < .05）以及通过肺病理学检查发现细胞浸润减少（P < .005）。此外，菠萝蛋白酶显著减少了BAL中的CD4+和CD8+ T细胞，而不影响脾脏或肺门淋巴结中的细胞数量。研究发现，用菠萝蛋白酶治疗的动物血清中的白细胞介素IL-4、IL-12、IL-17以及IFN-α减少。
结果表明，菠萝蛋白酶对已确诊的AAD有治疗作用，这可能转化为对类似病症患者（如过敏性哮喘患者）的有效辅助治疗，这些患者在症状出现后选择开始治疗。
