Study on the effect of mud from the Euganean thermal area

The Euganean thermal district in north-eastern Italy is one of the largest and oldest thermal centers in Europe. The external treatment of its therapeutic thermal muds is recognized by the Italian health system as a beneficial treatment for patients with arthro-rheumatic diseases. Recently, polysaccharides produced by the mud microbiota there have been identified as bioactive anti-inflammatory molecules.

In this study from the University of Padov, the efficacy of microbial polysaccharides (M-PS) was investigated from matured muds obtained at different maturation temperatures - both within and outside the standardized traditional maturation range. M-PS were extracted from six matured muds from five thermal baths of the Euganean thermal district and analyzed for their chemical properties, monosaccharide composition and anti-inflammatory potential in the zebrafish model. In addition, the microbiota composition of the matured muds was characterized by next-generation sequencing.

The results showed that all M-PS exhibited a comparable anti-inflammatory effect, which can be attributed to their similar chemical composition. This consistency was maintained despite changes in the cyanobacterial populations, indicating a possible role of the entire microbial community in the expression of the biomolecule properties. These findings underline the importance of scientific research to decipher the therapeutic efficacy of Euganean thermal mudin the treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases.