DKICP faculty publish research on anti-inflammatory properties of native plant

Roots of the native Hawaiian plant ʻŪhaloa, (Waltheria indica) have long been used in the Hawaiian culture as a treatment for inflammatory conditions, including asthma and infections. Two faculty members, a postdoctoral associate and a graduate student from the Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, are part of a team of researchers working to isolate compounds from those plant roots and evaluate their medicinal properties. Their latest research results have been published this month in the Journal of Natural Products.

Supakit Wongwiwatthananukit, Pharm.D., Ph.D. and professor; Leng Chee Chang, Ph.D. and professor; Feifei Liu, Ph.D. and postdoctoral associate; and graduate student Sasha (Kovacs) Nealand are authors on a paper titled “Anti-inflammatory Quinoline Alkaloids from the Roots of Waltheria indica.”

“We believe the approach of the drug leads and clinical candidates should be driven from natural products, which have their origin in traditional medicine,” says Dr. Wongwiwatthananukit. “So we got involved in the Hilo community by seeking collaboration, both culturally and academically, with Kumu Dane Kaohelani Silva, a native Hawaiian practitioner with vast knowledge and experience in the use of laʻau lapaʻau, or Hawaiian medicine.”

“In our research, we were able to isolate and identify 16 new compounds from the Waltheria indica root, and then evaluate the anti-inflammatory potential of each compound,” explains Dr. Chang. “Several showed measurable activity and a few demonstrated significant levels of anti-inflammatory activity. “Our research results support the traditional use of this plant in the treatment of inflammatory-related disorders,” she says, adding that the next stage of their research involves determining if the most active compounds can be modified to make them even more effective.

Wongwiwatthananukit says the team hopes this work can help translate research from the laboratory to clinical practice and improve the health of people of Hawaiʻi, the Pacific region and the world.

Adds Chang, “We are very grateful to have worked with Kumu Silva, who shared with us his knowledge of Hawaiian culture and practices, as they pertained to indigenous medicinal plants and their uses. He called his work Lōkahi and was actively making preliminary strides to cultivate medicinal plants and design the ʻLōkahi Farmacy.’”