Sep. 1, 2005 Pomegranate fruit extracts can block enzymes that
contribute to osteoarthritis according to a Case Western Reserve
University School of Medicine study published in the September
2005 issue of the Journal of Nutrition. The study looked at the
ability of an extract of pomegranate fruit against
Interleukin-1b (IL-1b), a pro-inflammatory protein molecule that
plays a key role in cartilage degradation in osteoarthritis.
Current treatments for osteoarthritis -- which affects 20
million people nationwide, according to the National Institutes
of Health -- offer limited effectiveness and do little to slow
joint destruction and disease progression. "This has generated
considerable interest in the identification and development of
new approaches and reagents to treat and inhibit, if not
abolish, the progress of the disease," said Tariq M. Haqqi,
Ph.D., professor of medicine at Case. "Arthritis is one of the
foremost diseases for which patients seek herbal or traditional
medicine treatments. However, all the