Bromelain Suppresses Rheumatoid Arthritis in Vivo

Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) a chronic disorder as a result of inflammation, affecting mostly the flexible (synovial) joints and tissues and organs in the body.

The disease affects more women than men and generally occurs after the ages of 40, causing the diminished quality of life of many elders(1).

According to CDC, Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) affect over 52 million of adults in the US alone, including 294,000 children under age 18 with some form of arthritis or rheumatic conditions(2).

Rheumatoid Arthritis can induce bone loss through elevating bone resorption without increasing bone formation(4). A cross-sectional population-based study of 1042 patients with rheumatoid arthritis showed that RA patients had an increased risk of death from various causes(4a).

Most common symptoms of RA are
* The feet and joints
Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) often associate with valgus deformities of the feet and gait due to body function in an effort to support the collapsing longitudinal arch of the foot.

* The gait
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) causes a significant reduction in joint motions, joint moments, such as decreased hip flexion-extension range, hip abduction, knee flexion-extension range.


* The hands
The effects of the deformation of RA's hands can be described through the defects of bone ankylosis as a result of bone damage to the prolonged onset of the disease(12).


* The Muscle strength
The effects of muscle strength in a patient with RA may contribute to the prevalence of functional limitations physically of that can affect daily living and quality of life.

* Rheumatoid Nodules
Rheumatoid nodules, lump on the skin, closed to the joint have been found to affect the joints of patients with rheumatoid nodules.


* Conjunctival nodule
Although is rare in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, the appearance of the nodules may exhibit the
the severity of the underlying disease.

* Morning stiffness
Morning stiffness, as a marker of inflammatory activity that reflects the functional disability and pain is a very common symptom of patients in early rheumatoid arthritis.

Conventionally, there is no cure for RA. Medication is to relieve symptoms such as pain, slow the progression and improve quality of life, including disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and corticosteroids.


Bromelain, a proteolytic enzyme found in pineapples (Ananas comosus) has been used in traditional medicine as an inflammatory agent and to treat pains, strains, and muscle aches and pains and ease back pain and chronic joint pain, skin diseases, etc.

With an aim to find a natural agent for the treatment of adjuvant rheumatic diseases, researchers examined the anti-inflammatory property of both enzyme therapy and combined therapy with cyclosporin in an animal model.

The study included rats with adjuvant-induced arthritis administered either cyclosporin A (2.5 or 5.0 mg/kg/day per os), a mixture of enzymes (Phlogenzym (PHL); 45 mg/kg twice daily intrarectally), or a combination of 2.5 mg cyclosporin A and 90 mg PHL for a period of 40 days.


According to the tested assays, the combination therapy with cyclosporin A plus PHLshowed a significantly inhibited both the inflammation and destructive arthritis-associated changes, such as serum albumin, changes in hind paw swelling and bone erosions.

Compared to the higher dose, 2.5 mg of cyclosporin A and PHL alone inhibited the disease markers to a lesser extent and a later stage of arthritis development.

In other words, the combination inhibited all parameters associated with the onset of adjuvant rheumatic diseases in a dose-dependent manner.


Based on the findings, researchers wrote, "The results show the inhibitory effect of enzyme therapy on rat adjuvant arthritis, as well as the efficacy of a low dose of cyclosporin A given in combination with enzyme therapy, which may be useful in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis".


Taken altogether, bromelain used alone or combined with conventional medicine may be considered a remedy for the prevention and treatment of adjuvant rheumatic diseases, pending to the confirmation of the larger sample size and multicenter human study.

Intake of bromelain in the form of supplements should be taken with extreme care to prevent overdose acute liver toxicity.

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Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrition, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, best before it's news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada - Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma and Bioscience, ISSN 0975-6299.

Sources
(1) [Proteolytic enzymes as an alternative in comparison with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) in the treatment of degenerative and inflammatory rheumatic disease: systematic review].
[Article in German] by Heyll U1, Münnich U, Senger V. (PubMed)
(2) Enzyme and combination therapy with cyclosporin A in the rat developing adjuvant arthritis by Rovenská E1, Svík K, Stancíková M, Rovenský J. (PubMed)
(3) Most Common Disease of elder: The Clinical Trials and Studies of musculoskeletal disorders(MSDs) - Rheumatoid Arthritis: The Signs and Symptoms by Kyle J. Norton