Bromelain: A potential strategy for the adjuvant treatment of periodontitis

Bromelain, a mixture of proteases derived from different parts of pineapple, has been described to have therapeutic benefits in a diversity of inflammatory diseases. Such effects are associated to its proteolytic activity. As one of the most common and multifactorial diseases, periodontitis is a bacterial infection that results from the damage to the integrity of the tissues around the tooth, which includes gingiva, periodontal ligament, and alveolar bone. In periodontitis, the recruitment of defense cells occurs, which releases several pro-inflammatory cytokines. At elevated levels, they can potentiate the alveolar bone loss. Studies have been conducted trying to alleviate the damage to the periodontium, however, the regeneration of the periodontal tissues is still limited.
The Hypotheses: Based on previous studies showing that bromelain can act by decreasing the periodontal microorganism growth by proteolytically cleaving important cell surface molecules in leucocytes, by reducing neutrophils migration to periodontal sites, by downregulating the inflammation mediator levels, and by decreasing alveolar bone loss in the periodontitis.
Evaluation of the Hypothesis: In a first moment, to evaluate this hypothesis, could be used two animal models: the ligature or bacteria inoculation induced periodontitis. If studies using animal models show encouraging results, appropriate clinical trials should be designed to evaluate the effect of bromelain as a complementary treatment for periodontal disease in humans, during the active phase or after the healing phase of mechanical therapy could be tested; to conduct a placebo-controlled study where health and periodontitis patients could be used.