RedCon1 – Boswellia Serrata Part I

RedCon1 – Boswellia Serrata Part I

Boswellia serrata isnt a supplement that is often discussed but holds a tremendous amount of potential benefits. The entire species of boswellia is what we typically refer to as frankincense which is usually used in aromatherapy settings. Boswellia is not a supplement that you’re going to ingest and expect to gain ten pounds of muscle on. Boswellia is most notably going to be related and discussed for its anti-cancer and overall anti-inflammatory properties. Every article I write that discusses health based supplements is meant to be taken with a grain of salt. There is almost a never-ending amount of beneficial health supplements that we can employ with success but it will come down to budget and priorities. In my eyes, if you’re a competitive athlete trying to push to extreme levels and doing whats necessary to accomplish those extreme goals, your health should be of the utmost concern as many things that we do simply are not healthy by nature. This is why we must do our best to keep our health markers within proper ranges regardless of our chosen lifestyle.

Within boswellia, there is a tremendous amount of bioactive ingredients that we simply do not have enough research on to even comment about. However, it does seem there are two main bioactive ingredients that we can direct our attention to that have some literature supporting them. Those being 11-keto-β-boswellic acid and 3-O-acetyl-11-keto-β-boswellic acid (1.) One note to mention is it seems 5-Loxin has more of a potential anti-inflammatory effect when compared to the standard boswellia extract found in many supplements (2.) Now that we have some of the basics out of the way (in an effort not to bore you), lets take a look at some of the literature in support of boswellia’s various beneficial effects. The first study is only a singular incident, but I feel compelled to bring it to the forefront to show just how beneficial this supplement has the potential to be (genetic and metabolic variability aside.) A study was conducted by Flavin on a lipoxygenase inhibitor in breast cancer brain metastases. “The arachidonate lipoxygenase pathway appears to play a role in brain tumor growth as well as inhibition of apoptosis in in-vitro studies. The down regulation of these arachidonate lipoxygenase growth stimulating products therefore appeared to be a worthwhile consideration for testing in brain metastases not responding to standard therapy. Boswellia serrata, a lipoxygenase inhibitor was applied for this inhibition. Multiple brain metastases were successfully reversed using this method in a breast cancer patient who had not shown improvement after standard therapy. The results suggest a potential new area of therapy for breast cancer patients with brain metastases that may be useful as an adjuvant to our standard therapy” (3.) This study gave women with these brain tumors 2.4 grams of boswellia serrata for 10 weeks and essentially, destroyed their tumors and resolved the issue. That potential benefit alone was originally what brought me around to researching into this supplement as my grandmother had similar complications years ago and, should the unfortunate event ever occur to other females within my family, I’d rather be prepared than not.

References

1. Determination of major boswellic acids in plasma by high-pressure liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry. Kathleen Gerbeth, Juergen Meins, Simon Kirste, Felix Momm, Manfred Schubert-Zsilavecz, Mona Abdel-Tawab. J Pharm Biomed Anal. 2011 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21855244)
2. Regulation of vascular responses to inflammation: inducible matrix metalloproteinase-3 expression in human microvascular endothelial cells is sensitive to antiinflammatory Boswellia. Sashwati Roy, Savita Khanna, Alluri V. Krishnaraju, Gottumukkala V. Subbaraju, Taharat Yasmin, Debasis Bagchi, Chandan K. Sen. 2006 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16677108)
3. A lipoxygenase inhibitor in breast cancer brain metastases. D. F. Flavin. J Neurooncol. 2007  (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17001517)
4. Regulation of vascular responses to inflammation: inducible matrix metalloproteinase-3 expression in human microvascular endothelial cells is sensitive to antiinflammatory Boswellia. Sashwati Roy, Savita Khanna, Alluri V. Krishnaraju, Gottumukkala V. Subbaraju, Taharat Yasmin, Debasis Bagchi, Chandan K. Sen. Antioxid Redox Signal. 2006 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16677108)
5. Isolation of hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1) inhibitors from frankincense using a molecularly imprinted polymer. Achillia Lakka, Ilias Mylonis, Sophia Bonanou, George Simos, Andreas Tsakalof. Invest New Drugs. 2011 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20437079)
6. Hypoxia inducible factor-1: a novel target for cancer therapy. Vladimir E. Belozerov, Erwin G. Van Meir. Anticancer Drugs. 2005 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16162966)
7. Response of radiochemotherapy-associated cerebral edema to a phytotherapeutic agent, H15. J. R. Streffer, M. Bitzer, M. Schabet, J. Dichgans, M. Weller. Neurology. 2001 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11342692)
8. Evaluation of the efficacy of ginger, Arabic gum, and Boswellia in acute and chronic renal failure. Mona Fouad Mahmoud, Abdalla Ahmed Diaai, Fahmy Ahmed. Ren Fail. 2012 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22017619)
9. 11beta-Hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase 1 inhibiting constituents from Eriobotrya japonica revealed by bioactivity-guided isolation and computational approaches. Judith M. Rollinger, Denise V. Kratschmar, Daniela Schuster, Petra H. Pfisterer, Christel Gumy, Evelyne M. Aubry, Sarah Brandstötter, Hermann Stuppner, Gerhard Wolber, Alex Odermatt. Bioorg Med Chem. 2010 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20100662)
10. Effects of Boswellia serrata gum resin in patients with bronchial asthma: results of a double-blind, placebo-controlled, 6-week clinical study. I. Gupta, V. Gupta, A. Parihar, S. Gupta, R. Lüdtke, H. Safayhi, H. P. Ammon. Eur J Med Res. 1998  (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9810030)
11. Herbal interventions for chronic asthma in adults and children: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Christopher E. Clark, Elizabeth Arnold, Toby J. Lasserson, Taixiang Wu. Prim Care Respir J. 2010 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20640388)
12. TRPV3 and TRPV4 mediate warmth-evoked currents in primary mouse keratinocytes. Man-Kyo Chung, Hyosang Lee, Atsuko Mizuno, Makoto Suzuki, Michael J. Caterina. J Biol Chem. 2004 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15004014)
13. TRPV3 is a temperature-sensitive vanilloid receptor-like protein. G. D. Smith, M. J. Gunthorpe, R. E. Kelsell, P. D. Hayes, P. Reilly, P. Facer, J. E. Wright, J. C. Jerman, J-P Walhin, L. Ooi, et al. Nature. 2002 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12077606)
14. A double blind, randomized, placebo controlled study of the efficacy and safety of 5-Loxin® for treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee. Krishanu Sengupta, Krishnaraju V Alluri, Andey Rama Satish, Simanchala Mishra, Trimurtulu Golakoti, Kadainti VS Sarma, Dipak Dey, Siba P Raychaudhuri. Arthritis Res Ther. 2008 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18667054)
15. The 5-lipoxygenase/leukotriene pathway in obesity, insulin resistance, and fatty liver disease. Marcos Martínez-Clemente, Joan Clària, Esther Titos. Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2011 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21587068)
16. Mechanism of 5-lipoxygenase inhibition by acetyl-11-keto-beta-boswellic acid. H. Safayhi, E. R. Sailer, H. P. Ammon. Mol Pharmacol. 1995 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7603462)