Rice Bran Good for Inflammation, Joints

NAPLES, Fla.According to a study out of Flordia, stabilized rice bran (SRB) extracts have applications for functional foods and dietary supplements for control of inflammation and joint health (J Med Food. 2009;12(3):615-23). Rice bran, the outer bran and germ of the kernel and a by-product of rice milling, is rich in phytonutrients but has been underutilized because of lipid content instability. Researchers characterized the chemical composition of three SRB extracts and identified the functional bioactives contributing to the inhibitory properties against three key pro-inflammatory enzymes (cyclooxygenase [COX] 1, COX2 and 5-lipoxygenase [5-LOX]) that control the inflammatory cascade involved in impaired joint health, pain and arthritis. One extract (SRB-AI) demonstrated significant COX1 and COX2 inhibitory activities with 50 percent inhibitory concentration (IC(50)) values for COX1 and COX2 of 305 and 29 microg/mL, respectively, but no 5-LOX inhibition. The second extract (SRB-AII) inhibited COX1, COX2 and 5-LOX with IC(50) values of 310, 19 and 396 microg/mL, respectively. The third extract (SRB-AIII), a blend of SRB-AI and SRB-AIII, inhibited COX1, COX2 and 5-LOX with respective IC(50) values of 48, 11 and 197 microg/mL. Analysis of the extracts by direct analysis in real time of flight-mass spectrometry revealed SRB-AI, SRB-AII and SRB-AIII containd more than 620, 770 and 810 compounds, respectively. Of these, 17 were identified as key bioactives for COX and/or LOX inhibition.