Microparticles crab, shrimp and lobster shells can help prevent the inflammatory disease of the intestine

Microparticles crab, shrimp and lobster shells can help prevent the inflammatory disease of the intestine -

microparticles crab, shrimp and lobster shells have mechanisims anti-inflammatory that could lead to the development of new preventive and therapeutic strategies for inflammatory bowel disease

Yoshimi Shibata, Ph.D., professor of biomedical sciences in the Charles E. Schmidt College of medicine at Florida Atlantic University, received a $ 380,552 grant from the National Institute complementary medicine and alternative National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study further how microparticles called "chitin" found in crab, shrimp and lobster shells have anti-inflammatory mechanisms that could lead to the development of new preventive and therapeutic strategies for people who suffer from inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and other diseases.

Current drugs for IBD include antibiotics, corticosteroids and other biological anti-inflammatory drugs which are expensive and do not always work. Since lobster, crab and shrimp shells are a significant waste in the industry seafood, chitin is abundant and inexpensive to prepare. chitin microparticles are also non-toxic, biodegradable and non-allergenic, and therefore safe for oral ingestion as a dietary food supplement.

Shibata employees are Zhongwei Li, Ph.D. Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine FAU; Kathleen C. Dorey, Ph.D. Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine; and Emiko Mizoguchi, MD, Ph.D., with the Center for the Study of Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School.

Shibata is an immunologist whose research focuses on macrophages, which are multifunctional cells that are essential for host protective immune system and inflammation

many scientists now believe that most -. or perhaps all - chronic diseases stem from chronic inflammation, which plays a direct role in diseases such as IBD, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, asthma and many other diseases.

"In normal conditions, inflammation is a process that actually protects the health and promotes healing by mobilizing the immune system to attack invading bacteria and kill them by the immune system," says Shibata . "chronic inflammation of the other side night instead of heals because the immune attack never ends."

crab, shrimp and lobster shells contain carbohydrates, calcium and protein. Shibata and his colleagues designed active carbohydrates in these crustaceans by removing the calcium and the protein and small particles forming with the carbohydrates which are similar to bacteria, microbes called mimetics. They developed an oral form of this substance as a dietary supplement. the team demonstrated that oral administration of chitin microparticles reduces the pathologic manifestations of allergic asthma, food allergies, colitis and foodborne infections in animal models seasonal allergies in humans. They also carried out additional studies to further their understanding of the mechanisms underlying the effects of chitin microparticles on macrophage activation.

"In this new study, we will focus on intestinal macrophages and how we developed mimics microbes can produce anti-inflammatory, to normalize the intestinal bacterial flora and ultimately improve symptoms associated with inflammatory bowel disease, "said Shibata.

According Foundation of America & Crohn colitis, over 1.4 million Americans suffer from Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, and approximately 70,000 new cases of IBD are diagnosed each year. Children under 18 are the population of patients with IBD fastest growing.

"The causes of inflammatory bowel disease and the factors that influence its activity are not known," said David J. Bjorkman, MD, MSPH, a gastroenterologist and senior director and business manager medical for Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine FAU. "The impact of this condition can range from mild to severe debilitation."

"The important research that Dr. Shibata and his colleagues are also conducting engage our graduate and undergraduate students in research in relevant clinical immunology, promote scientific development, and give them a better appreciation of complementary medicines and alternatives, "said John W. Newcomer, MD, Vice Dean Charles E. Schmidt College of medicine and FAU Vice President Acting for research at FAU.