Immunological changes after mustard treatment in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases

Background: The utilization of mustard for healing dates back to as early as the time BC. Its protein content is 28–30 percent, is rich in glutamin and asparagin, contains mucilag, which has a role in the protection of the mucous membrane in the intestines. Its antrimicrobal effect has been proved. It also contains significant amounts of oil acid, linol, linolenic acid and eicosanoid. Its antioxidant features can partially be attributed to its high polyphenol and tocopherol content. These features make it suitable for utilization in the dietotherapy of several conditions.

Aims: Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are immunologically characterized by a Th1 shift with increased cellular cytotoxicity by antigen-specific CD8+ T lymphocytes or trough natural killer (NK) cells and with high levels of proinflammatory cytokines (e.g. TNF-α, IFN-γ??? IL-2 leading to a defective mucosal immune response which results in a chronic intestinal inflammation and a tissue damage. The present study was undertaken to investigate into the effect of mustard seed on the immunological parameters of 19 patients with inflamatory bowel disease for three months.

Patients and methods: 19 patients/10 with Crohn's disease (CD) and 9 with ulcerativ colitis (UC)/with medium activity have taken part in our study. Beside the standard medical treatment, we have completed their diet with 4g mustard seed- intake daily. We investigated parts of the innate immune system: cytotoxicity, perforin content (cytotoxic effector molecule), Th1/Th2 cytokine profile and the ratio of different lymphocyte subsets including/δ? and? δ2 T cells were measured in IBD patients before and after mustard treatment. Two- or three-colour flow cytometric analysis were done from peripheral blood of the donors. Cytotoxicity, ratios of γ/δ???δ2, cells, intracellular peforin and cytokine content were measured.

Results: In our study we found significantly decreased cytotoxicity, decreased perforin positive γ/δ? T? cells and increased IL-10 producing CD3+ T cells after mustard treatment. The ratio of the strong cytotoxic?δ2 subset of γ/δ? T? cells was found to be significantly lower than before the treatment in CD patients, but was'nt significant change in patients with UC.

Conclusion: Our findings suggest that mustard treatment of CD patients resulted in benefical immunological changes which may contribute to the well-being of them beside conservative drug-therapy. Based on it's amino-acids, lipid and carbohydrate content, mustard seed is ideal nutrient. It is a source of polyphenols which prevents the oxidative processes; the antibacterial substances take part in the destruction of pathogens; prebiotic oligosaccharides help to maintain the healthy bacterial flora of the gut. This complex effect could be the base of the immunological changes, measured in inflammatory bowel disease patients.

This research was founded in part by the NKFP-4/005/2002 Hungary.