AUTHOR: Mavil May C. Cervo RND

INSTITUTION WHERE STUDY WAS DONE: Philippine Women's Univeristy, Metro-Manila, Philippines

KEYWORDS: Ananas comosus, immunological markers, viral and bacterial infections

INTRODUCTION | Back

Background:
Despite various improvements in the treatment of perpetually evolving viral and bacterial infections, they are still considered as significant problems in health care today, especially for developing countries like the Philippines.

Objectives:
This prospective randomized clinical trial examined the effects of canned pineapple consumption on immunomodulation, nutritional status and physical health of ninety-eight (98} school children with mean age of 8.44±0.20 years old.

METHODOLOGY | Back

The study participants were divided into three groups. Group A {33} served as the control group or those subjects who were not given canned pineapple and maintained their usual intake. Group B {33} served as the first treatment or those subjects who were given 140 g of canned pineapple while Group C (32} served as the second treatment or those who were given 280 g of canned pineapple for eight weeks. Each major group was further divided into two groups: normal (N} and underweight (U} based on 2007 WHO Growth Reference Standards. Sociodemographic, anthropometric, physical examination, dietary, hemoglobin level and immunological data were analyzed.

RESULTS | Back

Results showed a decrease in incidence of viral and bacterial infections for both Groups B and C (normal and underweight} after canned pineapple consumption. The average duration or extent of infection is also much shorter in the treatment group (both normal and underweight). Production of granulocytes also increased by 0.77-26.61% for normal weight subjects and 14.95-34.55% for those who are underweight. CD16+56 count also augmented by 20.44-22.13% for normal weight subjects and 3.57-15.89% for underweight subjects after eight weeks consumption of canned pineapple.

CONCLUSION: | Back

It is concluded that intake of both one-can (140 g} and two cans (280 g} of canned pineapple may shorten the duration and incidence of infection as well as increase the production of granulocytes and CD16+56, but two-cans {280 g) demonstrated higher granulocyte and CD16+56 production.

Introduction | Methodology | Results | Conclusion | Back to Total Names Codes