Bromelain Inhibits the Onset of Acute Diarrhea in Vivo

By Kyle J. Norton

Diarrhea is an acute condition of loose, watery stools (bowel movements). In other words, if you have loose stools three or more times in one day, you are considered to have diarrhea.

Most cases of diarrhea are acute that last for a few days. However, chronic diarrhea that lasts for a long period of time is an indication of other medical conditions, including irritable bowel disorder, or inflammatory bowel disease.

Accompanied by loose and watery stool, patients with chronic diarrhea also experience abdominal cramps and pain, fever, blood and mucus in the stool, bloating, nausea and the urge of a bowel movement.

Most common causes of diarrhea are an infection caused by bacterias and virus. Some medications such as antibiotics also have been found to induce acute diarrhea.

The condition in some cases can also be induced by lactose intolerance, fructose, artificial sweeteners and other digestive disorder such as Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, celiac disease.

Acute diarrhea can be treated successfully if the cause is found. Untreated diarrhea has been found to cause complications of dehydration, particularly in children and a weakened the immune system in older adults

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

On finding a natural compound for the treatment of diarrhea, researchers examined the effects of bromelain on K88 positive enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (K88+ ETEC), an important cause of diarrhea in young piglets.

The study included bromelain (0, 12.5, or 125 mg) orally administered to just weaned piglets for 10 days following by the commencement of bromelain treatment, piglets were challenged with K88+ ETEC (5 x 10(10) K88ac:0149) for seven days.

Injection of 12.5 or 125 mg showed a significant effect in reducing the incidence of K88+ ETEC diarrhea and protected piglets from a life-threatening disease.

Both doses of bromelain treated pigs also had significantly increased weight gain compared to untreated pigs.

However, bromelain only temporarily inhibited K88+ ETEC receptor activity observed by the receptor activity being regenerated 30 hours following treatment, consistent with the regeneration of new enterocytes.

In other words, both doses of bromelain can only temporarily inactivate ETEC receptors in vivo and protect against ETEC induced diarrhea.

These results strongly suggested that bromelain treatment prevented the attachment of K88+ ETEC to piglet small intestines that inhibits the risk of K88+ ETEC pathogenesis.

Based on the finding, Dr. Chandler DS, the lead scientist wrote, "Bromelain may, therefore, be an effective prophylaxis against ETEC infection".

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

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

Natural Medicine for Fatty Liver And Obesity Reversal - The Revolutionary Findings To Achieve Optimal Health And Lose Weight

How To Get Rid Of Eye Floaters 
Contrary To Professionals Prediction, Floaters Can Be Cured Naturally 

Ovarian Cysts And PCOS Elimination
Holistic System In Existence That Will Show You How To
Permanently Eliminate All Types of Ovarian Cysts Within 2 Months

Back to Kyle J. Norton Homepage http://kylejnorton.blogspot.ca


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) Bromelain protects piglets from diarrhoea caused by oral challenge with K88 positive enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli by Chandler DS1, Mynott TL. (PubMed)