Eating Broccoli Sprouts May Help Prevent Arthritis

New research has suggested that eating broccoli sprouts may relieve the symptoms of arthritis, protect your cartilage and prevent pain in your joints.

A recent study carried out by researchers at Johns Hopkins University in the USA has revealed that the plant compound found in high concentrations in broccoli sprouts appears to block the activity of an enzyme that triggers inflammation in joints. The research findings, based on experiments with human cells in a lab, could lead to new arthritis treatments and better methods of making artificial cartilage.

The plant compound called sulphoraphane has already been shown to fight cancer cell growth, and new experiments on human cells show that a diet rich in sulphoraphane might also be good for arthritic joints, or for sportspeople putting their joints under a lot of pressure. Previous research at John Hopkins University has determined that Broccoli Sprouts contain up to 50 times more sulphoraphane that mature broccoli heads, and are one of the richest sources of the compound.

During this recent study the researchers added a broccoli compound to a dish containing chondrocyte cells from human joints. After 24 hours, the cells were subjected to a stress test designed to mimic aspects of strenuous exercise on a joint. Heavy exertion can cause the joints to increase the levels of COX-2 enzyme in joints, which triggers inflammation and pain, and suppresses the activity of beneficial phase 2 enzymes. This ultimately kills chondrocytic cells, and when chondrocytes stop functioning properly, arthritis can develop.

Rather than using a toxic Cox-2 inhibitor like Vioxx to suppress those enzymes, the researchers added phase 2 enzymes that inhibited inflammation and cellular death beforehand. Sulphoraphane has previously been found to boost the activity of helpful phase 2 enzymes, and the laboratory test confirmed this effect.

Some prescription drugs like Vioxx keep COX-2 enzyme at bay by temporarily blocking its ability to send the biochemical signals that set off pain and inflammation. When the medication is stopped, however, the stockpiled COX-2 enzyme can resume its damaging ways. Unlike these traditional pain killers, the researchers found that phase 2 enzyme inducers seemed to stop the increasing activity of COX-2 enzyme.

"The beneficial phase 2 enzymes somehow seemed to prevent the activation of the inflammatory COX-2 enzyme," says John Hopkins University graduate student Zachary Healy, lead author of the paper published in the 27 September 2005 edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (vol 102, no 39, 14010-14015).

"That means these compounds could be useful as a preventive measure, perhaps before strenuous exercise, says Healy. This has the potential for stopping pain and inflammation before they start."