Highlights
- Dr Kamal Dua’s team at UTS is testing efficacy of plant-based drugs for asthma, cancer on mice
- Australian and international research institutes fund Dr Dua’s research on medicinal plants like turmeric
- Human trials of plant-based medicines soon, seeking industry partner next year: Dr Dua
Sydney-based academic Dr Kamal Dua says people from India as well as native Australians have traditionally used plant-based medicines to treat various health conditions.
But he believes most of them are unaware of the science behind the actual working of these plant-based medicines and how they interact with diseased cells inside the human body.
Dr Dua studied pharmacy in India and completed his second doctoral research in Australia.
His team, which comprises researchers from India and Nepal, is designing nanoparticles that will deliver plant-based drugs or phytoceuticals to diseased cells inside a human body.
Like most people who grow up in India, Dr Dua has also observed the widespread use of medicinal plants like turmeric.
But he took this cultural practice to the next level and started researching it scientifically in Australia nearly five years ago.
Dr Dua told SBS Hindi that limited researchers have focused on plant-based medicines targeting inflammatory diseases such as asthma,
“We extract active constituents (like curcumin, rutin, berberine, naringenin etc) from fruits, vegetables and spices and then combine them with soluble and biodegradable polymers. This mix is called a nanoparticle.
“The significant difference between plant-based and synthetic or chemical drugs is toxicity and the side effects they cause to the human body. Plant-based drugs have negligible side effects, which makes them very effective inside the body,” Dr Dua claimed.
Dr Dua said they tested these plant-based drugs on lab-grown healthy human cells and also on cells taken from people with asthma, cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
“Early results show our nanoparticles have suppressed certain small molecules in the body, which cause inflammation and disease pathology,” he said.
“We are now testing this in mice and expect to complete our research in one year. But unfortunately, COVID has hampered our work,” Dr Dua added.
The team plans to tap an industry partner before moving to the clinical trial stage, where they will test their plant-based drugs on humans.
Dr Dua said it could take another five years before a medicine is approved for human use.
He also said that the team has published “high-impact papers” in journals of international and national repute.
“Our papers have been are published in journals and are peer-reviewed. Journals like the International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, Nanomedicine, Life Sciences, Journal of Food Biochemistry and Future Medicinal Chemistry have carried our work,” Dr Dua told SBS Hindi.
Their research has been funded by the Graduate School of Health (University of Technology Sydney), Qassim University (Saudi Arabia) and International Medical University (Malaysia).
They have partnered with Maharshi Dayanand University (Rohtak, India), Woolcock and Centenary Institute (Sydney, Australia), Australian Research Centre in Complementary and Integrative Medicine (UTS) amongst others for their research on asthma and other respiratory diseases.
