Oral Bromelain Attenuates Inflammation in an Ovalbumin-induced Murine Model of Asthma

Bromelain, a widely used pineapple extract with cysteine protease activity, has been shown to have immunomodulatory effects in a variety of immune system models. The purpose of the present study was to determine the effects of orally administered bromelain in an ovalbumin (OVA)-induced murine model of acute allergic airway disease (AAD). To establish AAD, female C57BL/6J mice were sensitized with intraperitoneal (i.p.) OVA/alum and then challenged with OVA aerosols for 3 days. Mice were gavaged with either (phosphate buffered saline)PBS or 200 mg/kg bromelain in PBS, twice daily for four consecutive days, beginning 1 day prior to OVA aerosol challenge. Airway reactivity and methacholine sensitivity, bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) cellular differential, Th2 cytokines IL-5 and IL-13, and lung histology were compared between treatment groups. Oral bromelain-treatment of AAD mice demonstrated therapeutic efficacy as evidenced by decreased methacholine sensitivity (P ≤ 0.01), reduction in BAL eosinophils (P ≤ 0.02) and IL-13 concentrations (P ≤ 0.04) as compared with PBS controls. In addition, oral bromelain significantly reduced BAL CD19+ B cells (P ≤ 0.0001) and CD8+ T cells (P ≤ 0.0001) in AAD mice when compared with controls. These results suggest that oral treatment with bromelain had a beneficial therapeutic effect in this murine model of asthma and bromelain may also be effective in human conditions

Prevalence and Prognostic Role of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer by Race: A Surveillance Study

A possible explanation for the relatively poor survival from breast cancer among blacks is the much higher rate of the adverse Triple-Negative sub-type. In a study of 1372 patients, blacks had twice the risk of death compared to whites among those with advanced cancer whether or not tumors were Triple-Negative. More research is still warranted to determine why blacks with advanced, but not local, breast cancer have a consistently higher rate of death. Introduction Emerging research suggests a substantially greater prevalence of the adverse triple-negative (TN) subtype (human epidermal growth factor receptor [HER]2−, estrogen receptor [ER]−, and progesterone receptor [PR])−) among black patients with breast cancer. No reports however have been generated from a statewide cancer registry. Patients and Methods The study consisted of all black patients (N = 643) and a random sample of white patients (n = 719) diagnosed with primary invasive breast cancer (2000–2003) listed in the National Cancer Institute–Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (NCI-SEER) Connecticut Tumor Registry (CTR). HER2 status was obtained from pathology reports submitted to the registry. Remaining data were obtained from the registry database. Results TN tumors were more prevalent in black compared with white patients (30.8% vs. 11.2%, respectively; P \u3c .001.) There was a 2-fold greater frequency of ER− and PR− phenotypes among black patients, but HER2 status did not differ by race. Patients with lobular cancer were less likely to have TN breast cancer compared with patients with ductal tumors (odds ratio [OR] = 0.23; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.10–0.58). Among patients with regional disease, black patients exhibited increased risk of death (relative risk [RR] = 2.71; 95% CI, 1.48–4.97) independent of TN status. No survival disparity was found among patients with local disease. Discussion These registry-based data corroborate reports that TN breast cancer varies substantially by race and histologic subtype. A survival disparity among patients with advanced disease, but not local disease, casts some doubt on TN status as an explanation for differences. Conclusion More research is warranted to understand why black patients with advanced breast cancer may be at increased risk for death whether or not their tumors express the TN phenotype