Papain

Papain Uses, Dosage, Side Effects, Food Interaction and all others data.

Papain, also known as papaya proteinase I, is a cysteine protease (EC 3.4.22.2) enzyme that is found in species of papaya, Carica papaya and Vasconcellea cundinamarcensis. The enzyme is found to be localized in the skin of papaya, and is collected from slashed unripe papayas as a crude latex. Papain is used in food, pharmaceutical, textile, and cosmetic industries. While it has been used for the treatment of inflammation and pain via topical administration, papain has also shown to have anthelmintic and tooth-whitening properties. Present in over-the-counter mixture products consisting of different digestive enzymes, its active site contains a catalytic diad that plays a role in breaking peptide bonds. Papain is also used as an ingredient in various enzymatic debriding preparations.

Papain is a digestive enzyme and often acts as a skin allergen.

Papain
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Uses during Pregnancy
Uses during Breastfeeding
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Trade Name	Papain
Generic	Papain
Papain Other Names	Papain, Papaína
Type
Protein binding	No pharmacokinetic data available.
Groups	Approved
Therapeutic Class
Manufacturer
Available Country
Last Updated:	September 19, 2023 at 7:00 am

Uses

Papain is a proteolytic enzyme derived from papaya used for its anti-inflammatory properties.

No FDA-approved therapeutic indications.

Papain is also used to associated treatment for these conditions: Inflammation

How Papain works

When topically applied, papain induces an allergen-like inflammatory response via recruiting neutrophils, mast cells, and CD3-positive cells and by induction of a TH2-biased antibody response . In vitro, treatment of papain resulted in the breakdown of tight junctions of primary human keratinocytes that maintain the epithelial barrier integrity. These tight junction proteins include zonula occludens-1, claudin-4, and occludin . It is proposed that papain induces allergic responses via activation of TLR4, leading to an increase in neutrophils, CD3+ cells, mast cells, and CCL8-positive cells .