Small molecule
“This is a very promising and nicely conducted trial. Previously there are separate trials both determining potential mechanisms of action as well as efficacy of curcumin and Qing Dai separately in this population. This is a nice study that uses the combination in patients with mild to moderate UC,” said Ashwin N. Ananthakrishnan, MBBS, MPH, a gastroenterology physician and researcher at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.
“Immunosuppressive treatments are very effective in our patients with IBD but there remains concern (particularly for patients) about the consequences of immunosuppression including risk of treatment associated cancer. Thus, there is a lot of interest in rigorous studies of nonimmunosuppressive treatments that may still be effective in relieving objective inflammation (apart from just symptomatic improvement). This study provides a nice evidence base for that. There remain multiple limitations including small sample size, potential generalizability to other populations, and importantly whether the efficacy is driven by curcumin or Qing Dai,” he said in reply to a request for independent commentary.
Dr. Ananthakrishnan was not involved in the study.
“This is great work! We are also studying Qing Dai/indigo naturalis and have developed a single small molecule that works similarly to this therapy,” Matt Davidson, PhD, of Azora Therapeutics in Encino, Calif., said in an online chat section of the meeting website.
In a separate scientific poster presented at the meeting, Dr. Davidson and Julie Saiki, PhD, also from Azora, reported that their company is developing a novel synthetic small molecule prodrug of indirubin, an AhR agonist derived from indigo that is purported to maximize colonic exposure while minimizing systemic exposure.
In mouse models of colitis, oral administration of the prodrug significantly reduced Disease Activity Index and weight loss similar in magnitude to the active compound indirubin, they reported.
The study was supported by Sheba Medical Center. Mr. Salomon disclosed speaking fees from various companies and has received consulting fees and has an equity position in EvNature, the manufacturer of CurQD. Dr. Ananthakrishnan reported having no disclosures relative to the study. Dr. Davidson is CEO and cofounder of Avora Therapeutics.