Pharmacy research follows a natural course

Monash researchers hope to develop natural alternatives to existing anti-inflammatory drugs that could aid arthritis sufferers

Researchers from the university's Victorian College of Pharmacy have isolated and successfully tested compounds with anti-inflammatory properties in a Thai plant called gynura.

Dr Ian Coupar, pharmacological evaluation supervisor, and Ms Cindy Song, honours student, screened the compounds and found extracts that were more potent than existing steroid anti-inflammatory drugs.

"There is still a need to develop better anti-inflammatory drugs, because all the existing ones have quite serious side effects and can only be used for short periods of time," Dr Coupar said.

Dr Coupar said the next step in the research was to identify the chemical properties and the active ingredients of the gynura extract. Ultimately, the goal is to develop natural or hybrid anti-inflammatory drugs to treat diseases such as arthritis, skin conditions and ulcerative colitis (inflammation of the colon).

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