Natural Products for Asthma Treatment

Research Statement

Bioactive natural products have played a crucial role in human health, with several advancing to FDA-approved therapeutics. Fucoxanthin, a carotenoid derived from macro- and microalgae, has demonstrated potential for preventing and treating pulmonary diseases; however, its clinical application remains unrealized. Fucoxanthinol, the hydrolyzed and bioactive form of fucoxanthin in the human body, holds greater therapeutic promise, yet pharmaceutical-grade fucoxanthinol (>98% purity) is not widely available for research.

To address this gap, we have developed a process to produce high-purity fucoxanthinol for pharmaceutical studies by culturing microalgae, extracting fucoxanthin, and converting it into its active form. We hypothesize that orally administered fucoxanthinol enhances target engagement more effectively than fucoxanthin, making it a viable therapeutic candidate. This project aims to evaluate the efficacy of fucoxanthinol in mitigating respiratory tract inflammation, comparing its effects to fucoxanthin and existing therapeutic compounds using human cell cultures and mouse models.