Inhalations with Brine Solution from the ‘Wieliczka’ Salt Mine Diminish Airway Hyperreactivity and Inflammation in a Murine Model of Non-Atopic Asthma

Abstract

<jats:p>Inhalations with brine solutions are old but underestimated add-ons to pharmacological treatments of inflammatory lung diseases. Although widely used, not all features underlying their action on the respiratory system have been explored. The aim of the present study was to elucidate the mechanism of the beneficial action of inhalations of brine solution from the ‘Wieliczka’ Salt Mine, a Polish health resort, in a murine model of non-atopic asthma. Asthma was induced in BALB/c mice by skin sensitization with dinitrofluorobenzene followed by an intratracheal challenge of cognate hapten. All animals underwent 12 inhalation sessions with brine solution, pure water or physiological saline. Control mice were not inhaled. We found that brine inhalations reduced, as compared to non-inhaled mice, the typical asthma-related symptoms, like airway hyperreactivity (AHR), the infiltration of pro-inflammatory cells into the bronchial tree, and the inflammation of the airways at the level of pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-1α, IL-1β and IL-6. The level of the anti-inflammatory IL-10 was elevated in brine-inhaled mice. Inhalations with pure water increased AHR, whereas saline had no influence, either on AHR or cytokine concentrations. These observations indicate that inhalations with a brine solution from the ‘Wieliczka’ Salt Mine diminish the asthma-related symptoms, mostly by reducing the inflammatory status and by decreasing AHR.</jats:p>

The Impact of Thermal Water in Asthma and COPD: A Systematic Review According to the PRISMA Statement

“…The level of AHR did not significantly (p > 0.05) change in response to increasing concentrations of MCh 5-40 mg/mL in brine-treated sensitized mice, but it was significantly (p < 0.05) lower compared to the untreated group. Brine solution inhalations significantly (p < 0.05) reduced the total inflammatory cell count and the number of neutrophils to a level comparable to that in sham-sensitized mice [26]. Concerning airway inflammation, the overexpression of IL-1α and IL-6 was significantly (p < 0.05) reduced in the lung tissue and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALf) of brine-treated mice and the concentrations in lung tissue decreased to values observed in the sham-sensitized group.…”

“…Of the 207 potentially relevant records identified in the initial search, 12 studies were deemed eligible for a qualitative synthesis (Table 1). This systematic review included data obtained from five RCTs [4,[16][17][18][19] evaluating the impact of TW on COPD [4,16,17,19] and pediatric asthma [18], two non-randomized, uncontrolled interventional studies [20,21] on asthma, two observational studies [22,23] on heavy smokers [22] and COPD patients [23], one case study [24] on workers in thermal-mineral springs exposed to sulfurous TW, one in vitro study [25] on human lung fibroblasts, and one in vivo study [26] on a murine model of non-atopic asthma. When reported in the studies, the temperature of the TW was defined as "warm" or "hot" and ranged from 37 to 80 • C. Data on viscosity and density of TW were not provided in the included studies.…”

“…In a murine model of non-atopic asthma, Zajac et al [26] investigated the mechanisms underlying the beneficial effects of inhalations of brine solution from the Wieliczka Salt Mine, a Polish health resort. Brine is a type of TW presenting a prevalence of sodium and chloride ions, as well as magnesium and calcium.…”

Mineral water inhalations for bronchial asthma: a meta-analysis

“…First, abstracts of publications were analyzed to exclude duplicating, non-clinical publications (24) and those that don't deal with bronchial asthma (722). [36][37][38] After reading the complete texts of the publications out of the 540 remaining studies, 469 more studies were excluded due to the unavailability of the full text of the publication (Figure 1). 39,40 Further analysis included 51 articles, which were assessed by two independent reviewers.…”

Towards More Precise Targeting of Inhaled Aerosols to Different Areas of the Respiratory System

“…In modern times, dedicated medical devices for aerosol generation for inhalation purposes (nebulizers and inhalers) have been developed. Also, the beneficial effects of inhaling saline aerosols/salt particles from the environment have contributed to the development of halotherapy as a method of pulmonary rehabilitation [ 3 ], which can be also carried out under specific conditions of underground treatment in caves and salt mines (subterranean therapy) [ 4 , 5 ]. In addition to treating respiratory diseases, aerosols can also carry pharmaceuticals absorbed into the circulation and acting in other organs (systemic drugs).…”