Anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties of Piper species: a perspective from screening to molecular mechanisms.

Identifying novel therapeutic agents from natural sources and their possible intervention studies has been one of the major areas in biomedical research in recent years. Piper species are highly important - commercially, economically and medicinally. Our groups have been working for more than two decades on the identification and characterization of novel therapeutic lead molecules from Piper species. We have extensively studied the biological activities of various extracts of Piper longum and Piper galeatum, and identified and characterized novel molecules from these species. Using synthetic chemistry, various functional groups of the lead molecules were modified and structure activity relationship (SAR) studies identified synthetic molecules with better efficacy and lower IC50 values. Moreover, the mechanisms of actions of some of these molecules were studied at the molecular level. The objective of this review is to summarize experimental data published from our laboratories and others on antioxidant and anti-inflammatory potentials of Piper species and their chemical constituents.