Research Projects

The study focuses on health promotion through dietary modulation of the intestinational microflora through the consumption of functional foods. Prebiotics are considered a superior way of managing health issues through directed inflection of gut microbiota. Prebiotics are carbohydrate compounds, primarily oligosaccharides, known to deter digestion in the human small intestine and reach the colon where they are fermented by the gut microflora. Functional foods provide specific health benefits beyond their nutritional format. Plants have been used as food and medicine since ancient times, and their phytochemicals, including alkaloids, phenols, flavonoids, terpenes, antioxidants, and polyunsaturated fatty acids, are considered functional foods. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 0.3-1% of the world population is affected by rheumatoid arthritis (RA), with females being three times more prone to the disease. Prebiotics can restore gut microbiota diversity and safeguard a healthy homeostatic state of microbiome-host relationship, which is crucial for stopping or suspending the onset of autoimmunity and tumbling the progression and outbreak of autoimmune diseases. The study evaluated the anti-arthritic activity of four medicinal plants, Cissus quadrangularis, Cardiospermum halicacabum, Pisoina alba, and Percularia daemia, using a CFA-induced arthritic animal model. The aim is to study the role of prebiotic oligosaccharides in preventing arthritis through regulation of gut mucrobiome homeostasis.