Papain: benefits, dosage, contraindications
Family or group:
Enzymes
Indications
Scoring methodology
EFSA approval.
Skin healing ✪✪✪✪✪
In several clinical trials and a case report, papain has been used to treat wounds, including pediatric burns. Although the exact mechanism is unknown, papain, as an enzyme, may contribute to wound debridement.
Posologie
Orally
100 mg
14 - days
Managing a traumatic wound in a geriatric patient
Nontraditional wound care: A review of the evidence for the use of sugar, papaya/papain, and fatty acids
[Wound treatment: scientific production analysis published in the Revista Brasileira de Enfermagem from 1970-2003]
[Papain phonophoresis in the treatment of suppurative wounds and inflammatory processes]
The treatment of pediatric burns using topical papaya
Nontraditional wound care: A review of the evidence for the use of sugar, papaya/papain, and fatty acids
Pharyngitis ✪✪✪✪✪
Clinical research shows that oral administration of papain, in combination with other agents, can relieve inflammation and swelling of the pharynx more quickly than placebo.
Posologie
Orally
2 mg
Digestive disorders ✪✪✪✪✪
Papain plays a key role in improving digestion, especially in older adults. This population often faces a decreased ability to chew, reduced digestive function, and diminished nutrient absorption, thereby contributing to malnutrition and an increased risk of chronic diseases. Meat, rich in essential amino acids and minerals, is crucial for maintaining muscle mass and combating age-related anabolic resistance. Papain, a proteolytic enzyme extracted from papaya latex, plays a key role in improving digestion, especially in older adults. This population often faces a decreased ability to chew due to tooth loss, reduced digestive function, and diminished nutrient absorption, thereby contributing to malnutrition and an increased risk of chronic diseases such as sarcopenia and dementia. During digestion, papain helps break down proteins, a process that is crucial for older adults whose protein digestion is often compromised. Because of tooth loss and decreased salivary secretion, consuming meat, an important source of protein, becomes difficult. Meat, rich in essential amino acids and minerals, is crucial for maintaining muscle mass and combating age-related anabolic resistance. Papain, with its broad spectrum of activity, effectively breaks down protein bonds, including connective tissues that are difficult to digest such as collagen. It acts by hydrolyzing the bonds between amino acids, thereby facilitating the digestion of meat proteins. Its ability to operate across an extended pH range and at relatively high temperatures makes it particularly well-suited to improving food digestibility.
Posologie
By mouth
Properties
Digestive effect
Papain is an enzyme that efficiently breaks down complex proteins present in food, thereby reducing the burden on the digestive system. Papain contributes to better nutrient absorption and can help relieve digestive discomfort associated with inefficient protein digestion.
Usages associés
Dermatological effect
Papain plays an important role in wound care due to its specific enzymatic properties. It acts by breaking down damaged tissue, thereby facilitating the skin's natural healing process. This ability of papain to remove dead or infected tissue without damaging surrounding healthy tissue is particularly beneficial in the treatment of infected burns. By applying papain topically, it is possible to prevent infection while promoting the formation of a new layer of healthy skin, a process known as granulation.
Usages associés
Immunomodulatory
Papaya extract, notably due to the presence of papain, has shown interesting immunomodulatory effects. Microarray studies have revealed that the addition of papaya extract enhances the expression of 23 immunomodulatory genes, including CCL2, CCL7, CCL8 and SERPINB2. These genes play a role in modulating the immune system, which suggests that papaya contains active components capable of inhibiting tumor cell development. This activity could help strengthen the body's immune defenses against certain types of cancer, such as lung cancer.
Safe dosage
Adult: 2 mg - 1200 mg
Papain has been used in combination with other proteolytic enzymes at doses up to 1200 mg per day for periods of up to 9 weeks.
Precautions
Breastfeeding woman: avoid
Insufficient data.
Contraindications
Pregnant woman: prohibited
There is a risk that papain may be teratogenic.
