Research Projects

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are widely used to treat various ailments, including asthma, inflammatory bowel disorders, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, neurodegenerative disorders, and cancer. However, these drugs often have side effects like gastric bleeding, nephrotoxicity, athero-thromboembolic vascular disorders, and heart failure, especially in geriatric patients. To address these issues, researchers have attributed the anti-inflammatory activity of Curcuma longa to Curcumin. Curcumin exerts its anti-inflammatory activity through multiple pathways, including inhibition of Prostaglandin (PG) synthesis, Cycloxygenase 2, Interleuin 1 and 6, 5- (LOX), inducible nitric oxide synthase, Tumor necrosis Factor α, and Nuclear factor kB. Curcumin is generally safe for both animals and humans up to a maximum dose of 12gm/day. It is metabolized into various forms, including Di-hydro curcumin, Tetra hydro curcumin, Hexa hydro curcumin, Octa hydro curcumin, Curcumin glucuronide, Vanillin, Ferulic acid, Bicyclopentadione, Vinyl ether, Spiroepoxide, Dihydroxy cyclopentadione, Diguaicol, and Feruoyl methane. Preliminary in-silico studies show that some metabolites of curcumin have strong binding affinity for inflammation targets, possibly explaining the prolonged anti-inflammatory activity of curcumin. Validation of these binding energy studies should be done using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, followed by in-vitro and animal models of inflammation. If found to be therapeutically active against inflammation, curcumin metabolites could be developed into effective formulations to reduce dependence on NSAIDs.