title: Oral administration of the purple passion fruit peel extract reduces wheeze and cough and improves shortness of breath in adults with asthma.
abstract: Asthma, affecting as many as 400 million individuals worldwide, is one of the most prevalent chronic health condition in the United States. With an increasing number of patients with asthma and the frequent inability of conventional lifestyle modification and therapy to effectively control the problem, nutritional and dietary therapies are being sought. This study was undertaken to investigate the efficacy of the purple passion fruit peel (PFP) extract, a novel mixture of bioflavonoids, on asthma symptoms. Patients with asthma were studied in a 4-week randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial with oral administration of PFP extract (150 mg/d) or placebo pills. The effects of PFP extract were evaluated by assessing the clinical symptoms of asthma and spirometry tests. Most clinical symptoms of asthma of the PFP extract-treated group were moderated significantly compared to the baseline. The prevalence of wheeze, cough, as well as shortness of breath was reduced significantly in group treated with PFP extract (P < .05), whereas the placebo caused no significant improvement. Purple passion fruit peel extract supplementation resulted in a marked increase in forced vital capacity (P < .05) as placebo showed no effect. However, no significant improvement was observed in the forced expiratory volume at 1 second of those supplemented with PFP extract. No adverse effect was reported by any of study participants. The PFP extract may be safely offered to asthmatic subjects as an alternative treatment option to reduce clinical symptoms.
authors.affiliation: Southwest Scientific Editing and Consulting L.L.C., Tucson, AZ 85749, USA. rwatson@email.arizona.edu
authors.forename: Ronald Ross
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Watson
authors.forename: Sherma
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zibadi
authors.forename: Houshang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Rafatpanah
authors.forename: Farahzad
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Jabbari
authors.forename: Ramin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ghasemi
authors.forename: Javad
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ghafari
authors.forename: Hadi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Afrasiabi
authors.forename: Lai Yeap
authors.initials: LY
authors.lastname: Foo
authors.forename: Reza
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Faridhosseini
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D018927:Anti-Asthmatic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001249:Asthma / Q000188:drug therapy*; D003371:Cough / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D004417:Dyspnea / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005419:Flavonoids / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D029598:Passiflora / Q000737:chemistry*; D008517:Phytotherapy; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015995:Prevalence; D012135:Respiratory Sounds / Q000187:drug effects; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013147:Spirometry; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014797:Vital Capacity / Q000187:drug effects; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D018927:Anti-Asthmatic Agents; D005419:Flavonoids; D010936:Plant Extracts