Scleroderma is an autoimmune disease of the connective tissue characterized by fibrosis and thickening of various tissues. It can be limited to the skin or affect multiple organs, and its course ranges from slowly to rapidly progressive. Penicillamine, glucocorticoids, and other drugs are used to treat scleroderma, but none of these treatments has a high degree of efficacy. This article reviews...

Transglutaminase from Streptomyces mobaraensis is an enzyme of unknown function that cross-links proteins to high molecular weight aggregates. Previously, we characterized two intrinsic transglutaminase substrates with inactivating activities against subtilisin and dispase. This report now describes a novel substrate that inhibits papain, bromelain, and trypsin. Papain was the most sensitive pr...

In an effort to produce small discrete fragments of human growth hormone (GH), we examine the action of the proteolytic enzyme, bromelain, on this molecule. Purified human GH incubated for 40 min at 220C with crude bromelain and gel-filtered on Sephadex G-100 resulted in a major digestion product, peak 2. SDS-urea gel electrophoresis in the presence of fl-mercaptoethanol suggested that peak 2 w...

OBJECTIVE There is increasing interest in the use of combination therapy for rheumatoid arthritis and in the possibility of combining the conventional drug approach with newer antirheumatic therapy. The present study investigates the efficacy of long-term prophylactic enzyme therapy and combination therapy with cyclosporin A in rats with collagen-induced arthritis. METHODS Rats with collagen-...

OBJECTIVE The objective of this study is to assess the deproteinizing effect of bromelain enzyme and compare it with neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (Nd:YAG) laser and 10% sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) by using scanning electron microscope (SEM) and polarized microscope. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 60 extracted human upper premolars were selected to be given standardized buccal and...

Two forms of an acidic bromelain proteinase isolated from crude bromelain, an extract from pineapple stem, were found by a two-step FPLC purification procedure. The basic main components were removed by cation exchange chromatography and the breakthrough fraction was further resolved by anion exchange chromatography into 15 protein fractions, only two of which, called SBA/a and SBA/b, were prot...

Brazil produces over than 70,000 ha of pineapple, being the world leader in pineapple production, and Minas Gerais State alone produces over than 600 kt/y. The pineapple is the marketable plant part, which represents only 23 % of the plant itself, and the remaining plant, stem, leaves, bark and crown, being considered an agroindustrial residue. This residue contains great amount of bromelain, a...

characteristic lesion of the erythrocytes in the laboratory. Attempts along this line were made by Rodbard1 who, assuming that the erythrocytic defect was localized in the lipid fraction of the stroma, succeeded on a few occasions in obtaining lysis of normal red cells in acidified serum-which occurs also under the same conditions to PNH red cells2-by means of repeated washing with dilute alcoh...

To evaluate the efficacy of an association of N-acetyl cystein, alpha-lipoic acid, and bromelain (NAC/LA/Br) in the treatment of endometriosis we set up a new in vivo murine model. We explored the anti-inflammatory and proapoptotic effect of this combination on human endometriotic endothelial cells (EECs) and on endothelial cells isolated from normal uterus (UtMECs). We implanted fragments of h...

Food protein-derived hydrolysates with multi-bioactivities such as antihypertensive and antioxidant properties have recently received special attention since both activities can play significant roles in preventing cardiovascular diseases. This study reports, for the first time, the angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE)-inhibition and antioxidant properties of ultrafiltrate fractions (UF) with ...