Researchers at UCD are developing a health drink that will sooth the aching joints of older patients, writes Dr Claire O'Connell.
It's not quite the elixir of youth, but scientists in University College Dublin (UCD) are developing a functional drink to help the body's joints work well in older age.
The multi-disciplinary team plans to test herbal anti-inflammatory agents for usefulness and safety, and then provide them in a format that consumers will want to swallow.
The researchers at UCD's school of agriculture, food science and veterinary medicine hope that if taken regularly the anti-inflammatory drink will help older consumers maintain joint health or assist sports enthusiasts in recovering from injury.
The scientists will extract recognised anti-inflammatory compounds from feverfew, chamomile flowers, meadow sweet, willow bark and nettles, explains analytical chemist Dr Jean Christophe Jacquier, who is a principal investigator on the team.
The group chose these herbs for their long history of safety and effectiveness, and they will be organically grown in Ireland for the project. "They have been widely used as medicinal plants for centuries in teas, infusions, drops and extracts," says Dr Jacquier. Their anti-inflammatory properties are down to chemical compounds called terpenoids and flavonoids, he says.
The scientists will extract and test mixtures of these compounds for their ability to block the inflammation process, says botanist Dr John Collier. They will use spectrophotometry to measure how the agents react with cyclo-oxygenase (cox) enzymes and hormone-like chemicals called prostaglandins that mediate inflammation in the body.
Building up scientific data about the efficacy and toxicity of these botanical anti-inflammatories is one of their main aims. "The whole idea of this project is to try and kick herbal medicine into the 21st century," says Dr Collier.
The optimum mix of active agents will eventually be packaged into a consumer-friendly format such as a dairy or isotonic drink. This is where the group's expertise in developing food technology will come in, says food scientist Dr Dolores O'Riordan, who leads the project.
"We are not developing anything new from a drug point of view, what's new is the delivery matrix," she says.
Dr O'Riordan says they will explore alternatives to heat treatments to make the product microbiologically safe while keeping its anti-inflammatory properties. Flavour and viscosity will also be important elements in getting the right mix.
At the end of the three-year project, which is funded by the Department of Agriculture and Food, they hope to have a prototype drink that could then be commercialised as a product aimed at the over-50s and sports enthusiasts.
But what about concerns that long term consumption of anti-inflammatory agents could affect gut health, or encourage people to overdo exercise on worn joints? The researchers note the doses are extremely low and that the herbs have a long safety history. Instead, they argue the drink will help compensate for our modern lifestyle.
"People in society today are ageing quicker than they used to because they are not exercising or eating properly," says Dr Collier. "So this is a way of getting those natural compounds back into their diet again to help them through that whole process."