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Bromelain Pineapple Enzyme


1. 1/30/02 Bromelain What does it do? Bromelain is one of a group of proteolytic enzymes (enzymes capable of digesting protein). Although most enzymes are widely believed to absorb poorly, significant amounts of bromelain do absorb Bromelain is an anti-inflammatory agent and for this reason is helpful in healing minor injuries, particularly sprains and strains, muscle injuries, and the pain, swelling, and tenderness that accompany sports injuries.3 4 5 Bromelain may also be applied topically to wounds as a cream and may be beneficial for cleaning debris from burns6 and frostbite,7 and for accelerating the rate of wound healing.8 Also as a result of its anti-inflammatory effect, bromelain has been found to dramatically reduce postoperative swelling in controlled human research.9 Double-blind research has found bromelain effective in reducing swelling, bruising,10 and pain for women having minor surgery in conjunction with giving birth (episiotomy).11 The anti-inflammatory effect of bromelain is the probable reason this enzyme has been found effective for people suffering from sinusitis.12 Some of the evidence supporting bromelain in the treatment of sinusitis comes from double-blind research.13
   
   
2. 1/20/02 Bromelain - BB Post Summary
   
   
3. 1/30/02 Bromelain: biochemistry, pharmacology and medical use. Cell Mol Life Sci 2001 Aug;58(9):1234-45 PMID: 11577981 Bromelain is a crude extract from the pineapple that contains, among other components, various closely related proteinases, demonstrating, in vitro and in vivo, antiedematous, antiinflammatory, antithrombotic and fibrinolytic activities. The active factors involved are biochemically characterized only in part. Due to its efficacy after oral administration, its safety and lack of undesired side effects, bromelain has earned growing acceptance and compliance among patients as a phytotherapeutical drug. A wide range of therapeutic benefits has been claimed for bromelain, such as reversible inhibition of platelet aggregation, angina pectoris, bronchitis, sinusitis, surgical traumas, thrombophlebitis, pyelonephritis and enhanced absorption of drugs, particularly of antibiotics. Biochemical experiments indicate that these pharmacological properties depend on the proteolytic activity only partly, suggesting the presence of nonprotein factors in bromelain. Recent results from preclinical and pharmacological studies recommend bromelain as an orally given drug for complementary tumor therapy: bromelain acts as an immunomodulator by raising the impaired immunocytotoxicity of monocytes against tumor cells from patients and by inducing the production of distinct cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor-a, interleukin (Il)-1beta, Il-6, and Il-8. Especially promising are reports on animal experiments claiming an antimetastatic efficacy and inhibition of metastasis-associated platelet aggregation as well as inhibition of growth and invasiveness of tumor cells.
   
   
4. 1/30/02 Oral therapy with proteolytic enzymes decreases excessive TGF-beta levels in human blood. Cancer Chemother Pharmacol 2001 Jul;47 Suppl:S10-5 PMID: 11561866 Therapy with oral proteolytic enzymes (OET) with combination drug products containing papain, bromelain, trypsin, and chymotrypsin has been shown to be beneficial in clinical settings such as radiotherapy-induced fibrosis, bleomycin pneumotoxicity and immunosuppression in cancer, all of which are nowadays known to be accompanied by excessive transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) production
   
   

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