Dietary boron as a physiological regulator of the normal inflammatory response: a review and current research progress
1999
Hunt, Curtiss D. | Idso, Joseph P.
A substantial number of metabolic processes in humans and animals are beneficially affected by physiologic amounts of dietary boron. There is emerging evidence that boron influences immune function. Specifically, there is evidence that dietary boron helps control the normal inflammatory process and may do so by serving as a signal suppressor that down-regulates specific enzymatic activities typically elevated during inflammation at the inflammation site. Suppression, but not elimination, of these enzyme activities by boron is hypothesized to reduce the incidence and severity of inflammatory disease. This is a review of previous findings describing an apparent positive effect of boron on aspects of physiology related to the inflammatory process, including joint swelling, restricted movement, fever, antibody production, hemostasis, serine protease and lipoxygenase activities, and leukotriene metabolism. It also summarizes current research findings on the immunomodulatory effects of physiologic amounts of dietary boron such as reduced paw swelling and circulating neutrophil concentrations and increased circulating concentrations of natural killer cells and CD8a+/CD4- cells of rats with antigen-induced arthritis. Possible biochemical mechanisms for the effects of boron on the induced inflammatory response are discussed, with emphasis on possible roles of boron in the respiratory burst mechanism, and inhibition of leukocyte 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase, gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase, cyclooxygenase, and serine proteases (elastase, chymase, cathepsin G, thrombin, and coagulation factors IXa, Xa, XIa) activities.
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