Sulphurous Thermal Water Increases the Release of the Anti-Inflammatory Cytokine IL-10 and Modulates Antioxidant Enzyme Activity

Abstract

The beneficial effects of hot springs have been known foreenturtes and treatments with sulphurous thermal waters are recommended in a number of chronic pathologies as well as acute recurrent infections. However, the positive effects of the therapy are often evaluated in terms of subjective sense of wellbeing and symptomatic clinical improvements. Here, the effects of an S-based compound (NaSH) and of a specificsulphurous thermal water characterized by additional ions such as sodium chloride, bromine and iodine (STW) were investigated in terms of cytokine release and anti-oxidant enzyme activity in primary human monocytes and in saliva from 50 airway disease patients subjected to thermal treatments. In vitro, NaSH efficiently blocked the induction of pro-inflammatorycytokines and counterbalanced the formation of ROS. Despite STW not recapitulating these results, possibly due to the low concentration of S-based compounds reached at the minimum non-toxic dilution, we found that it enhanced the release of IL-10, a potent anti-inflammatory cytokine. Notably, higher levels of IL-10 were also observed in patients' saliva following STW treatment and this increase correlated positively with salivary catalase activity (r 2 =0.19, *p<0.01). To our knowledge, these results represent the first evidence suggesting that S-based compounds and STW may prove useful in facing chronic inflammatory and age-related illness due to combined anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties.The beneficial effects of hot springs have been known for centuries. Treatment with sulphurous thennal waters has been recommended in a number of chronic pathologies as well as acute recurrent infections. However, the positive effects ofthe therapy are often evaluated in terms of subjective sense of wellbeing and symptomatic clinical improvements, while the effects of thermal waters on the immune, nervous and endocrine systems are still to be well elucidated. In addition, each different thermal water is unique in terms of composition and properties, and thus ad hoc studies may be required to elucidate its specific effects on cells and systems. In the last decade, numerous studies have been focused on understanding the molecular and cellular mechanisms involved in hot spring therapeutic effects (1). Besides the well documented effects on upper and lower respiratory airways, such as antibacterial and mucolytic activity

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