WHAT IS INFLAMMATION INFLAMMATION IS BODY'S NATURAL REACTION TO INJURY OR WOUND. IT IS A SERIES OF PROTECTIVE RESPONSE THAT AIMS TO CONTAIN INJURY OR DESTRUCTION AT THE INITIAL SITE. THESE HELP PROTECT THE BODY FROM GENERAL INFECTION, ALLERGIC REACTION, AND FURTHER BLEEDING. THIS PROTECTION, HOWEVER, COMES AT A COST- WIDE RANGE OF SYMPTOMS, SUCH AS MUCOUS, STUFFY NOSE, SWOLLEN THROAT, SWELLING, PAIN AND FEVER TO NAME A FEW. WHEN AN INJURY HAPPENS, ACUTE INFLAMMATION OCCURS WITHIN FEW SECONDS OR MINUTES. ACUTE INFLAMMATION IS CHARACTERIZED BY ONE OR MORE OF FOLLOWING: PAIN, REDNESS, SWELLING, IMMOBILITY AND HEAT. THE DEGREE AND DURATION OF INFLAMMATORY RESPONSES DIFFER FROM PERSON TO PERSON, CASE BY CASE. HOWEVER, SOME PEOPLE MIGHT SUFFER FROM CHRONIC INFLAMMATION, A CONDITION IN WHICH CAUSES LIKE TRAUMA AND INFECTION TURNS YOUR INFLAMMATORY PROCESSES ON BUT NOT OFF. CHRONIC INFLAMMATION COULD POSE A SERIOUS HEALTH THREAT. MEDICAL CONDITIONS SUCH AS ULCERATIVE COLITIS, ASTHMA, AND INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASE ARE FEW EXAMPLES OF HOW DANGEROUS SITUATION COULD BECOME. WHAT IS SERRAPEPTASE? SERRAPEPTASE IS ENZYME PRODUCED BY SERRATIA BACTERIA LIVING IN SILKWORMS. SILKWORMS USE IT TO DISSOLVE THEIR COCOON WHILE EMERGING FROM MOTH. RESEARCHERS HAVE APPLIED THIS UNIQUE CHARACTERISTIC TO MODERN MEDICINE. SERRAPEPTASE HAS BEEN USED AS A DRUG IN EUROPE AND ASIA FOR MORE THAN 25 YEARS, AND IT IS A RISING INGREDIENT IN NORTH AMERICA. WHAT MAKES SERRAPEPTASE INTERESTING AND DISTINCT FROM OTHER ENZYMES IS THAT IT AFFECTS ONLY NON-LIVING TISSUES. THIS IS DUE TO SERRAPEPTASE TARGETING A SPECIFIC PROTEIN ONLY. 1. SERRAPEPTASE REDUCES PAIN A PAIN RESPONSE IS TRIGGERED BY THE PRESENCE OF PROTEIN CALLED AMINE. WHEN TISSUE INFLAMES, AMINE CALLED BRADYKININ CAUSES PAIN AND SORENESS. SERRAPEPTASE HAS BEEN SUGGESTED TO BLOCK THE RELEASE OF BRADYKININ, REDUCING PAIN. 2. SERRAPEPTASE REDUCES INFLAMMATION SERRAPEPTASE IS KNOWN TO BREAK DOWN FIBRIN, A PROTEIN INVOLVED IN BLOOD CLOTTING AND CONTAINING INFECTION AT INITIAL SITE. IN PROLONGED INFLAMMATION, FIBRIN CONVERTS HEALTHY TISSUE TO FIBROUS MATRIX WHICH MAINTAINS INFLAMMATORY RESPONSES. 3. SERRAPEPTASE IS USED IN VARIOUS WAYS, INCLUDING: - PROMOTING RESPIRATORY HEALTH. - THINNING MUCUS (EAR, NOSE, THROAT) - RELIEF OF PAIN AND INFLAMMATION ASSOCIATED WITH VARIOUS CONDITIONS SUCH AS ALLERGY, POST-SURGERY SWELLING AND ALLERGIC REACTION. WHY ENTERIC COATING? SERRAPEPTASE IS AN ENZYME. ENZYMES ARE EFFECTIVE ONLY WITHIN A CERTAIN PH RANGE. A PH TOO HIGH OR TOO LOW WILL DENATURE THE ENZYME AND ITS FUNCTION. THIS CHANGE IS PERMANENT. OPTIMAL PH AT WHICH SERRAPEPTASE BRINGS ITS BENEFIT IS PH OF 5-9. STOMACH ACID DENATURES SERRAPEPTASE. WHEN TAKEN ORALLY, SERRAPEPTASE MUST FIRST GO THROUGH STOMACH TO REACH SMALL INTESTINE WHERE IT IS ABSORBED. SMALL INTESTINE HAS PH RANGE OF 6 TO 7.4 WHICH IS OPTIMAL FOR SERRAPEPTASE ACTIVITY. HOWEVER, STOMACH ACID HAS A PH LEVEL OF 1.5 TO 3.5, AND IS ACIDIC ENOUGH TO DENATURE SERRAPEPTASE. DENATURED SERRAPEPTASE IS NOTHING MORE THAN AN ENZYME WITH NO ACTIVE FUNCTION. ENTERIC COATING PROTECTS SERRAPEPTASE. GENERALLY, CAPSULE/TABLET IS DISSOLVED BY STOMACH ACID, AND ITS CONTENT IS RELEASED INTO THE STOMACH. IF INGESTED UNCOATED, SERRAPEPTASE WILL BE RELEASED INTO THE STOMACH, WHICH HAS CHARACTERISTIC PH OF 1-3. THIS WILL DENATURE SERRAPEPTASE PERMANEN-TLY, AND EVEN IF IT REACHES SMALL INTESTINE WHICH HAS THE OPTIMAL PH OF 7-9, IT WILL NOT REVERT BACK TO NORMAL STATE. BY ENTERIC COATING THE CAPSULE WHICH IS RESISTANT TO STOMACH ACID, SERRAPEPTASE IS DISSOLVED IN SMALL INTESTINE, AND IS ABSORBED BY INTESTINE IN ACTIVATED FORM. CAUTION AND WARNING IF SYMPTOMS PERSIST OR WORSEN, DISCONTINUE USE AND CONSULT A HEALTH CARE PRACTITIONER. IF YOU ARE PREGNANT OR BREASTFEEDING, CONSULT A HEALTH CARE PRACTITIONER PRIOR TO USE. IF YOU HAVE A GASTROINTESTINAL LESION/ULCER, ARE TAKING ANTICOAGULANT/BLOOD THINNER OR ANTI-INFLAMMATORY MEDICATION, OR ARE HAVING SURGERY, CONSULT A HEALTH CARE PRACTITIONER PRIOR TO USE. HYPERSENSITIVITY/ALLERGY HAS BEEN KNOWN TO OCCUR; IN WHICH CASE, DISCONTINUE USE. AL-KHATEEB TH AND NUSAIR Y. EFFECT OF THE PROTEOLYTIC ENZYME SERRAPEPTASE ON SWELLING, PAIN AND TRISMUS AFTER SURGICAL EXTRACTION OF MANDIBULAR THIRD MOLARS. INTERNATIONAL JOUNAL OF ORAL MAXILLOFACIAL SURGERY 2008;37:264-268. BALAJI SM. TEXTBOOK OF ORAL & MAXILLOFACIAL SURGERY. ELSEVIER INDIA; 2007. BHAGAT S, AGARWAL M AND ROY V. SERRATIOPEPTIDASE : A SYSTEMIC REVIEW OF THE EXISTING EVIDENCE. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SURGERY 2013;11(3):209-217 CHOPRA D, REHAN HS, MEHRA P, ET AL. A RANDOMIZED, DOUBLE-BLIND, PLACEBO-CONTROLLED STUDY COMPARING THE EFFICACY AND SAFETY OF PARACETAMOL, SERRATIOPEPTIDASE, IBUPROFEN AND BETAMETHASONE USING THE DENTAL IMPACTION PAIN MODEL. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ORAL MAXILLOFACIAL SURGERY 2009;38:350-355. MAJIMA Y, INAGAKI M, HIRATA K, ET AL. THE EFFECT OF AN ORALLY ADMINISTERED PROTEOLYTIC ENZYME ON THE ELASTICITY AND VISCOSITY OF NASAL MUCUS. ARCHIVES OF OTO-RHINO-LARYNGOLOGY 1988;244:355-359. MAJIMA Y, HIRATA K, TAKEUCHI K ET AL. EFFECTS OF ORALLY ADMINISTERED DRUGS ON DYNAMIC VISCOELASTICITY OF HUMAN NASAL MUCUS. THE AMERICAN REVIEW OF RESPIRATORY DISEASE 1990;141(1):79-83. MARTINDALE 2011: SWEETMAN SC, EDITOR. 2011. MARTINDALE: THE COMPLETE DRUG REFERENCE. LONDON (GB): PHARMACEUTICAL PRESS. [SERRAPEPTASE: CAS 37312-62-2; 95077-02-4, LATEST MODIFICATION: 2011 OCTOBER 10]. MAZZONE A, CATALANI M, COSTANZO M, ET AL. EVALUATION OF SERRATIA PEPTIDASE IN ACUTE OR CHRONIC INFLAMMATION OF OTORHINOLARYNGOLOGY PATHOLOGY : A MULTICENTRE, DOUBLE-BLIND, RANDOMIZED TRIAL VERSUS PLACEBO. JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL RESEARCH 1990;18:379-388. NAKAMURA S, HASHIMOTO Y, MIKAMI M, YAMANAKA E, SOMA T, HINO M, AZUMA A, KUDOH S. EFFECT OF THE PROTEOLYTIC ENZYME SERRAPEPTASE IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC AIRWAY DISEASE. RESPIROLOGY 2003 SEP;8(3):316-20. TACHIBANA M, MIZUKOSHI O, HARADA Y, ET AL. A MULTI-CENTRE, DOUBLE-BLIND STUDY OF SERRAPEPTASE VERSUS PLACEBO IN POST-ANTROTOMY BUCCAL SWELLING. PHARMATHERAPEUTICA 1984;3(8):526-530. This page is not intended to be a comprehensive review of the medicinal ingredient.