This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Knowledge & Support Community

Cece wrote: I wonder if anti-valvular remodeling means what you are suggesting. Yes, let's dig deeper.

I think I am still recovering from vacation and the start of the school year, I've missed half of this conversation and not understood the excitement.

David1949 wrote:Maybe we're over-focused on vasoconstriction. Aspirin is also a vasoconstrictor, and yet it is sometimes prescribed as a long term means of preventing blood clots following venoplasty. The benefits outweigh the disadvantages.

With Daflon 500 the benefit is that it reduces adhesion of leukocytes to the endothelium. Now I'm not recomending that anyone run out and buy bootlegged Daflon to try it out. I'm just a jive engineer, not a doctor. But I think Daflon makes a good topic for discussion.

Bromelain treatment alters leukocyte expression of cell surface molecules involved in cellular adhesion and activation.
Hale LP, Greer PK, Sempowski GD.

Here is research from Duke University that shows why Bromelain tamps down inflammation: it's all about decreasing the number of neutrophils that respond to a site of injury. Neutrophils are a special type of white blood cell that is called in after injury to tissue. They kill infectious agents and are defenders, but they also contribute to inflammation, and could potentially lead to restenosis, by leukocyte adhesion to injured blood vessels.

Bromelain, a mixture of proteases derived from pineapple stem, has been reported to have therapeutic benefits in a variety of inflammatory diseases, including murine inflammatory bowel disease. The purpose of this work was to understand potential mechanisms for this anti-inflammatory activity. Exposure to bromelain in vitro has been shown to remove a number of cell surface molecules that are vital to leukocyte trafficking, including CD128a/CXCR1 and CD128b/CXCR2 that serve as receptors for the neutrophil chemoattractant IL-8 and its murine homologues. We hypothesized that specific proteolytic removal of CD128 molecules by bromelain would inhibit neutrophil migration to IL-8 and thus decrease acute responses to inflammatory stimuli. Using an in vitro chemotaxis assay, we demonstrated a 40% reduction in migration of bromelain- vs. sham-treated human neutrophils in response to rhIL-8. Migration to the bacterial peptide analog fMLP was unaffected, indicating that bromelain does not induce a global defect in leukocyte migration. In vivo bromelain treatment generated a 50-85% reduction in neutrophil migration in 3 different murine models of leukocyte migration into the inflamed peritoneal cavity. Intravital microscopy demonstrated that although in vivo bromelain treatment transiently decreased leukocyte rolling, its primary long-term effect was abrogation of firm adhesion of leukocytes to blood vessels at the site of inflammation. These changes in adhesion were correlated with rapid re-expression of the bromelain-sensitive CD62L/L-selectin molecules that mediate rolling following in vivo bromelain treatment and minimal re-expression of CD128 over the time period studied. Taken together, these studies demonstrate that bromelain can effectively decrease neutrophil migration to sites of acute inflammation and support the specific removal of the CD128 chemokine receptor as a potential mechanism of action.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18482869

Hooch wrote:I believe that Daflon 500 has the same effect as swimming in cool water,
on the legs - anyone remember the video of the man who couldn't walk until he went in the cold ocean. I also benefit from a cool water swim - vasoconstriction of lower limb veins. Unfortunately this doesn't last very long.

cheerleader wrote:You could also maybe try bromelain, pineapple supplement, which does the exact same thing to leukocytes and is not vasoconstricting.

HappyPoet wrote:cheer, do you know if your recommended supplements, bromelain and quercetin, decrease valvular remodeling and reflux? Thank you!