Boswellia Serrata

Boswellia serrata, also known as Indian frankincense, is one of the ancient and most valued herbs in Ayurveda. “Gajabhakshya”, a Sanskrit name sometimes used for Boswellia, suggests that elephants enjoy this herb as a part of their diet.

Boswellia is a traditional treatment for joint and back pain.  Boswellia inhibits the pro-inflammatory enzyme 5-LOX (5-lipoxygenase).[1]  Reports also show that BSE inhibited human leucocyte elastase, which could be of help in autoimmune disorders like rheumatoid arthritis.[2]

Clinical Trials:

A study published in the January 2003 edition of “Phytomedicine” [3] found that boswellia decreased pain in patients with osteoarthritis in the knee, and researchers also recommended the herb for treating other types of arthritis. The resin harvested from the plant provides the most medicinal benefit, and natural healers often prescribe the substance in capsule or tablet form for treating a variety of ailments.  They used boswellia serrata extract with minimum 40% baswellic acids (BA),  30 patients received 333 mg 3 times a day for 30 days.  See the very impressive results below.

Table 1

In another study Boswellia 40% (BA) 300 mg 3x/day for 6 months, was compared to the drug valdecoxib (2 groups of 33). [4]  The results are below using WOMAC scores, note that the study stopped at 6 months for receiving BSE and the drug, but the benefits for taking BSE continued for another month whereas for the drug the pain returned.  Note also it took longer for BSE to take affect compared to the drug

Table 2

Boswellia decreases breakdown of cartilage:

In contrast to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS), which are well known to disrupt glycosaminoglycan synthesis, thus accelerating articular damage in arthritic conditions.  [5] Boswellic acids have been shown to significantly reduce glycosaminoglycan degradation[6-9]

Other health benefits:

Bosewellia Serrata is also used to treat many other conditions, such as asthma, Crohn’s disease, colitis, polyarthritis , and improve cholesterol levels.[10-14]

References:

1. Safayhi H, Mack T, Sabieraj J, Anazodo MI, Subramanian LR, Ammon HPT: Boswellic acids: novel, specific, nonredox inhibitors of 5-lipoxygenase. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 1992, 26:1143-1146.
2. Safayhi H, Rall B, Sailer ER, Ammon HP. Inhibition by Boswellic acids of human leucocyte elastase. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 1997;281:460-3.
3. Kimmatkar N, Thawani V, Hingorani L, Khiyani R: Efficacy and tolerability of Boswellia serrata extract in treatment of osteoarthritis of knee: a randomized double blind placebo controlled trial. Phytomedicine 2003, 10:3-7
4. Sontakke S, Thawani V, Pimpalkhute P, et al: Open, randomized, controlled clinical trial of Boswellia serrata extract as compared to valdecoxib in osteoarthritis of the knee. Indian J Pharmacol. 39:27–29. 2007.
5. European Journal of Rheumatological Inflammation (13:7-16, 1993
6. Lee KH, Spencer MR. Studies on mechanism of action of salicylates V: Effect of salicylic acid on enzymes involved in mucopolysaccharide synthesis. J Pharmacol Sci. 1969;58:464–8
7. Palmowski MJ, Brandt KD. Effect of salicylate on proteoglycan metabolism in normal canine articular cartilage in vitro. Arthritis Rheum. 1979;22:746–54.
8. Dekel S, Falconer J, Francis MJ. The effect of anti-inflammatory drugs on glycosaminoglycan sulphation in pig cartilage. Prostaglandins Med. 1980;4:133–40.
9. Brandt KD, Palmowski MJ. Effect of salicylates and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs on articular cartilage. Am J Med. 1984;77:65–9.
10. Gupta I, Parihar A, Malhotra P, Gupta S, Ludtke R, Safayhi H, Ammon HP: Effects of gum resin of Boswellia serrata in patients with chronic colitis. Planta Med 2001, 67:391-395.
11. Madisch A, Miehlke S, Eichele O, et al: Boswellia serrata extract for the treatment of collagenous colitis. A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, multicenter trial. Int J 12. Colorectal Dis. 22:1445–1451. 2007Gupta I, Gupta V, Parihar A, et al: Effects of Boswellia serrata gum resin in patients with bronchial asthma: results of a double-blind, placebo-controlled, 6-week clinical study. Eur J Med Res. 3:511–514. 1998.
12. Sander O, Herborn G and Rau R: Is H15 (resin extract of Boswellia serrata, ‘incense’) a useful supplement to establish drug therapy of chronic polyarthritis? Results of a double-blind pilot study. Z Rheumatol. 57:11–16. 1998.(In German).
13. Gerhardt H, Seifert F, Buvari P, et al: Therapy of active Crohn disease with Boswellia serrata extract H15. Z Gastroenterol. 39:11–17. 2001.(In German).