Martines Francesco, Malta Ginevra, Cannizzaro Emanuele, Kelly Theodoridou, Salvago Pietro, Plescia Fulvio
Department of Biomedicine, Neuroscience and Advanced Diagnostics (BiND), Section of Audiology, University of Palermo, Via del Vespro 129, 90127 Palermo, Italy.
Department of Health Promotion Sciences, Maternal and Child Care, Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties 'Giuseppe D'Alessandro', University of Palermo, Via del Vespro 133, 90127 Palermo, Italy.
Children (Basel). 2024 Nov 26;11(12):1440. doi: 10.3390/children11121440.
BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: The respiratory system is prone to infectious diseases, especially in children below five years of age. Upper respiratory tract infections in children are often associated with Eustachian tube dysfunction and complicated by otitis media with effusion (OME), an inflammatory process within the middle ear, which can lead to hearing loss. Treatment for these infections involves a combination of medication and symptom relief, depending on the severity and cause of the infection. In recent years, natural therapeutic drugs derived from herbal medicines have been gaining popularity in treating various pathologies. Bromelain, one of the most studied natural compounds, has been investigated extensively due to its numerous pharmacological properties, offering a potential new avenue for treatment. Based on these promising findings, our study was designed to examine the efficacy of supplementation with bromelain in countering symptoms associated with OME.
This study was conducted on data acquired from medical records from the Section of Audiology of the University of Palermo, focusing on the period of January 2022 to June 2023 and selecting 224 children (age range 1-8 years), namely 174 males and 50 females, who were evaluated for presumed OME at the audiology pediatric ambulatory. All patients selected before initiating pharmacological treatment underwent thorough screening regarding the functionality of the tympanic cavities, otoacoustic emissions, the auditory threshold, and the ear canal's integrity.
The preliminary findings of this study are significant, demonstrating that supplementation with bromelain led to notable improvements in the symptoms accompanying OME after 15 days and 60 days of therapy. Notably, patients who received the bromelain supplement reported reduced mucus secretions and improved auditory function.
These results underscore the potential of naturally occurring compounds as adjuvants to standard therapeutic strategies in treating OME.
背景/目的：呼吸系统易患传染病，尤其是五岁以下儿童。儿童上呼吸道感染常与咽鼓管功能障碍有关，并常并发中耳积液性中耳炎（OME），这是中耳内的一种炎症过程，可导致听力损失。这些感染的治疗包括根据感染的严重程度和病因联合用药和缓解症状。近年来，源自草药的天然治疗药物在治疗各种疾病方面越来越受欢迎。菠萝蛋白酶是研究最多的天然化合物之一，由于其众多药理特性而受到广泛研究，为治疗提供了一条潜在的新途径。基于这些有前景的发现，我们的研究旨在检验补充菠萝蛋白酶对抗与OME相关症状的疗效。
本研究基于从巴勒莫大学听力学科的医疗记录中获取的数据进行，重点关注2022年1月至2023年6月期间，选择了224名年龄在1至8岁之间的儿童，即174名男性和50名女性，他们在听力学儿科门诊接受了疑似OME的评估。所有在开始药物治疗前入选的患者都接受了关于鼓室功能、耳声发射、听觉阈值和耳道完整性的全面筛查。
本研究的初步结果意义重大，表明补充菠萝蛋白酶在治疗15天和60天后，OME伴随症状有显著改善。值得注意的是，接受菠萝蛋白酶补充剂的患者报告黏液分泌减少，听觉功能改善。
这些结果强调了天然化合物作为治疗OME标准治疗策略辅助剂的潜力。
