Cucumber's cucurbitacin B (CuB) Processes Immune Modulatory and Anti-Inflammatory Properties

By Kyle J. Norton

Inflammation is a natural defense of the human body against the invasion of harmful microorganism.

In other words, the immune response of the first line defense macrophages after receiving information about skin or tissues damage from the brain stimulate the production of blood palette to cover the wound and pro-inflammatory cytokines to kill off invaders which may enter the body.

Most cases of the small wound are stoped in the acute phase of infection and the wound starts to heal itself.

In a large wound, some stitches are needed accompanying by the injection of antibiotics.

However, if the inflammation persists due to overexpression of proinflammatory cytokines, it can lead to the death of nearby healthy cells, causing the formation of scars.

In some cases, immune system response may also be compromised with the presence of harmful bacteria or virus due to its inability to kill off all pathogens in a set period of time, leading to chronic low-grade inflammation.

The continued production of pro-inflammatory cytokines over a long-term can result in protein, lipid and cell damage and alternation of cell DNA causing the onset of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer.

Some researchers suggested without knowing more of the nature of the chronic low-grade inflammatory disease, the use of NSAIDs may cause harm to the patients.

Dr. Adler UC in the concerns about the use of NSAIDs for the treatment of chronic low-grade inflammatory disease, explained, "Pro-inflammatory cytokines and their chronic effect - low-grade inflammation - have been associated with diverse chronic conditions".

And, "current data on the role of pro-inflammatory cytokines and that the use of NSAIDs to treat chronic low-grade inflammation can produce a contrary, rebound effect, as anticipated by Hahnemann. By diverting from the "palliative action-rebound effect" course".

The cucumber plant is a species of Cucumis Sativus, belongings to the family Cucurbitaceae and native to Western Asia. It is a creeping vine with roots in the ground and grows up with the support of frames.

With an aim to find a natural compound which processes anti-inflammatory property, researchers investigated cucurbitacin B (CuB) effect, a major compound found in cucumber on parameters related to antigen presentation and T-cell activation.

On basal and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammation, CuB inhibited significantly the LPS-a expression of MHC II (antigen-presenting cells), CD40, CD54, and CD80 associated with immunodeficiency with hyper-IgM.

Furthermore, injection of CuB also suppressed the production of intracellular reactive oxygen species and blocked the activation of pro-inflammatory mediators, such as nitric oxide (NO), prostaglandin E2, tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin (IL)-6, IL-12, and IL-1β, without inducing any cytotoxicity.

The finding suggested that CuB possesses immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory effects against disease involved in inflammation.

In other to reveal more information anti-inflammatory activity of CuB, researchers evaluated the chemical ability to scavenge free radicals such as hydroxyl radical, superoxide anions and singlet oxygen.

According to the tested assays, CuB exerted a broad spectrum radical-scavenging capacity surpasses those of grape-seed extract, wheat, alfalfa, a and ginkgo biloba extracts. 

Cucurbitacins not only inhibited lipid peroxidation and oxidation but also exhibited the anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties through their derivatives 23, 24 dihydrocucurbitacin and cucurbitacin.

In other words, CuB inhibited the expression of TNF in macrophages and lymphocytes involved in immune response and the expression of pro-inflammatory mediators such as nitric-oxide synthase-2 and cyclooxygenase-2.

Dr. Olayinka Oridupa, the lead scientist said, "It is general knowledge among researchers working with natural medicinal products that any of the cucurbitacins have the attributes or the potential to become fully patented as an anti-inflammatory...drug".

Taken altogether, cucumber processed a high amount of CuB may be used for the treatment of inflammation, pending to the confirmation of the larger sample size and multicenter human study.

Intake of CuB in the form of supplement 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) Cucurbitacin B inhibits immunomodulatory function and the inflammatory response in macrophages by Kim M1, Park SY1, Jin ML1, Park G1,2, Son HJ. (PubMed)
(2) Search for a novel antioxidant, anti- inflammatory/analgesic or anti-proliferative drug: Cucurbitacins hold the ace by Adebowale Bernard Saba, and Olayinka Oridupa. (Research Gate)
(3) Low-grade inflammation in chronic diseases: an integrative pathophysiology anticipated by homeopathy? by Adler UC. (PubMed)