Author
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Hunt, Curtiss |
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Submitted to: Trace Elements in Man and Animals (TEMA)
Publication Type: Abstract Only Publication Acceptance Date: 5/2/1999 Publication Date: N/A Citation: N/A Interpretive Summary: Technical Abstract: Findings from various in vitro, biochemical, animal, and human studies indicate that physiologic amounts of dietary boron are important in the control of the normal inflammatory process and thereby protect against inflammatory disease. Boron was reported to have anti-arthritic activity on formaldehyde-induced arthritis in albino rats. Another report suggested that luxuriant amounts of dietary boron (20 (g/g) compared to very low amounts (<0.2 (g/g), delay the onset and severity of adjuvant-induced arthritis in rats. Boron (3 (g/g) added to a boron-low diet (0.2 (g/g) more than doubled serum total antibody concentrations to injected antigens in rats. In a human study, 20 patients presenting radiographically confirmed osteoarthritis received either 6 mg oral supplements of boron/day or a placebo for 8 weeks in a double-blind trial. Arthritic individuals who received boron supplementation self-reported substantial improvement in subjective measures of their arthritic condition. Weanling rats fed a low boron basal diet (~0.1 mg B/kg) supplemented with boron (2 mg/kg) exhibited a faster subsidence in paw swelling after systemic induction of adjuvant-induced arthritis. Also, boron supplementation increased the blood concentration of cytotoxic/suppressor T lymphocyte (CD8a) and natural killer cells. The findings indicate that physiologic amounts of boron modulate the response of key immune cells to antigens. Boron increased erythrocyte SOD activity in men and postmenopausal women suggesting that boron improved antioxidative capacity. Thus, the available evidence is consistent with the hypothesis that boron helps control the normal inflammatory process. There is an active search for the mechanism whereby boron influences the inflammatory process. |
