Chios mastic treatment of patients with active Crohn’s disease

Abstract

AIM:To evaluate the effectiveness of mastic administration on the clinical course and plasma inflammatory mediators of patients with active Crohn's disease (CD). METHODS:This pilot study was conducted in patients with established mild to moderately active CD, attending the outpatient clinics of the hospital, and in healthy controls. Ten patients and 8 controls were recruited for a 4-wk treatment with mastic caps (6 caps/d, 0.37 g/cap). All patients successfully completed the protocol. CD Activity Index (CDAI), Nutritional Risk Index (NRI), C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1), and total antioxidant potential (TAP) were evaluated in the plasma at baseline and at the end of the treatment period. Results were expressed as mean values ± SE and P < 0.05 was considered to indicate statistical significance. RESULTS:Patients exhibited significant reduction of CDAI (222.9 ± 18.7 vs 136.3 ± 12.3, P = 0.05) as compared to pretreament values. Plasma IL-6 was significantly decreased (21.2 ± 9.3 pg/mL vs 7.2 ± 2.8 pg/ mL, P = 0.027), and so did CRP (40.3 ± 13.1 mg/mL vs 19.7 ± 5.5, P = 0.028). TAP was significantly increased (0.15 ± 0.09 vs 0.57 ± 0.15 mmol/L uric acid, P = 0.036). No patient or control exhibited any kind of side effects. CONCLUSION:The results suggest that mastic significantly decreased the activity index and the plasma levels of IL-6 and CRP in patients with mildly to moderately active CD. Further double-blind, placebo-controlled studies in a larger number of patients are required to clarify the role of this natural product in the treatment of patients with CD.

Alterations in the function of circulating mononuclear cells derived from patients with Crohn’s disease treated with mastic

“…Ten consecutive patients with active Crohn's disease and eight healthy controls were included [7] . In brief, clinical evidence of mild to moderate Crohn's disease exacerbation was defined by a score of CD Activity Index (CDAI) 150 < CDAI < 400.…”

“…T he trial protocol was car ried out as previously described [7] . In short, participants were subjected to a 4-wk supplementation with mastic caps (0.37 g/cap, 2 × 3 caps/d, 2.2 g in total).…”

“…In one or another scenario, a variety of cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), are secreted at the site of inflammation by intestinal lamina propria and attract and activate effector cells [3][4][5] . Apart from the intestinal mucosa, TNF-α concentration is also raised in serum in patients with active Crohn's disease, compared to normal controls [6,7] and inactive disease [8] . The mechanism through which localized inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract in active CD is associated with systemic manifestations r emains unconfir med, but can involve activated mononuclear cells that migrate via the peripheral blood (PBMC) to other tissues.…”

“…Mastic, the resinous exudate, has been reported to possess antioxidant [26] and antibacterial [27] activity, to be effective against peptic ulcers [28] , to be hepatoprotective in tetrachloride-intoxicated rats [29] and to suppress the extent of iron-induced lipid peroxidation in rat liver homogenates [30] . We have previously shown that mastic administration resulted in the improvement of the clinical course and in the regulation of inflammatory biomarkers in plasma obtained from mildly to moderate active CD patients [7] . The aim of the present work was to investigate the immunomodulatory effect of mastic treatment on cytokine secretion.…”

Chemopreventive Activity of Mediterranean Medicinal Plants

“…Most Chios mastic doses previously reported in human studies were around this level, e.g. 5 g/day/person (Triantafyllou et al, 2007), 4 g/day/person (Bebb et al,2003), 2.2 g/day/parson (Kaliora et al, 2007a(Kaliora et al, , 2007b, or 1 g/day/person (Al-Habbal et al, 1984). Favorable effects of mastic such as anticarcinogenic potential could be achieved at relatively low doses without any toxicity (He et al, 2006).…”