Herbal Chamomile May Be the Next Generation of Whole Food Medicine for Treatment of Chronic Inflammatory Diseases

By Kyle J. Norton, Master of Nutrition

Herbal Chamomile may be the next generation of whole food medicine of blocking the onset of acute and chronic inflammatory diseases, some studies suggested.

Inflammation is a natural and systematic immune response to the body damage and injure. Upon received the information from the central nervous system, macrophages, the largest cells in the immune system stimulate the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines to the site of infection to protect against possible exposure to infectious agents.

The aim of these actions is to minimize the damage and speed up the healing processes. However, if the pro-inflammatory cytokines are overexpressed,  they can cause damage to the nearby healthy and formation of the scars to the infected tissue.

Chronic inflammation is the condition when the immune system can not kill all infectious pathogens in the acute phase, leading to persistent low-grade inflammation, judged by a small rise in immune system markers found in blood or tissue.

The longterm low-grade inflammation has been found to trigger autoimmunity in which the immune system mistakenly attacks the body tissue in the damage site and other healthy tissue.

Most people with chronic inflammation are experiencing symptoms of body pain, persistent fatigue, and insomnia, psychological issues of depression, anxiety and mood disorders and long-term gastrointestinal discomfort, such as constipation, diarrhea, and acid reflux. 

If you have some of the symptoms above, please check with your doctor. A blood test of inflammatory markers is necessary to rule out the possibility.

Chamomile is also known as camomile,  a common name of many species daisy-like plants in the family Asteraceae.

The herb has been used in traditional medicine as antispasmodic and anti-inflammatory constituents and to treat menstrual cramps and sleep disorders, reduce cramping and spastic pain in the bowels, relieve excessive gas and bloating in the intestine, etc.

Chemical ingredients
Guaianolides matricarin and achillin, acetoxyachillin and leucodin (= desacetoxymatricarin), corresponding C-11 stereoisomers(a),(Z)-2-β-d-glucopyranosyloxy-4-methoxycinnamic acid (cis-GMCA), chlorogenic acid, (E)-2-β-d-glucopyranosyloxy-4-methoxycinnamic acid (trans-GMCA), quercetagetin-7-O-β-d-glucopyranoside, luteolin-7-O-β-d-glucoside, apigenin-7-O-β-d-glucoside, chamaemeloside, apigenin 7-O-(6″-O-acetyl-β-d-glucopyranoside), apigenin] and one polyacetylene (tonghaosu)(b).

In the study to reaffirm the inflammatory effect of chamomile used in traditional medicine for the treatment of inflammation-related disorders, researchers at the Case Western Reserve University conducted an examination of the herbal inhibitory effects on nitric oxide (NO) production and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression, and its potential anti-inflammatory mechanisms using RAW 264.7 macrophages.

In LPS-induced NO production, application of chamomile significantly blocked the series of the proinflammatory cytokine with the function to protect the cell against infection of LPS, namely, the IL-1β, IL-6, and TNFα in RAW 264.7 macrophages.

Furthermore, chamomile caused a reduction in LPS-induced iNOS mRNA and protein expression, a family of primary inflammatory response gene.

In RAW 264.7 macrophages, LPS-induced DNA binding activity of RelA/p65 in the prevention of production of anti-inflammatory cytokines was significantly inhibited by chamomile.

Moreover, chamomile treatment also inhibited the release of LPS-induced prostaglandin E(2), a bioactive lipid that can elicit a wide range of biological effects associated with inflammation, in RAW 264.7 macrophages.

Interestingly, the anti-inflammatory effect of Chamomile was attributed to the inhibition of COX-2, the proinflammatory enzyme activity by blocking the reduction in LPS-induced COX-2 mRNA and protein expression, without affecting COX-1 expression in the inflammatory response in comparison to the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, sulindac.

These results suggested that chamomile processed a mechanism of action similar to those of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs may be considered a functional food for the prevention and treatment of chronic inflammation.

However, due to limitation of the above study, additional data collection on large example size and multi-centers studies performed with human consumption of the whole food during the course of the disease will be necessary to complete the picture of chamomile anti-inflammatory diseases possibilities.

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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.

References
(1) Chamomile: an anti-inflammatory agent inhibits inducible nitric oxide synthase expression by blocking RelA/p65 activity by Bhaskaran N1, Shukla S, Srivastava JK, Gupta S.(PubMed)
(2) Chamomile, a novel and selective COX-2 inhibitor with anti-inflammatory activity by Srivastava JK1, Pandey M, Gupta S.(PubMed)