Evidence mapPaperPMID 40734693Full record

ReviewDrug design, development and therapy2025

Immunomodulatory Activities of Thai Herbs and the Druggability of Their Bioactive Constituents: A Comprehensive Review for Potential Phytopharmaceutical Product Development.

Tussapon Boonyarattanasoonthorn, Anna Raksapatcharawong, Dhirarin Junsaeng, Kran Suknuntha, Chanon Puttanawarut, Phisit Khemawoot

Abstract readReview
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Review in Drug design, development and therapy, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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1 · What the graph read from it

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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Tussapon BoonyarattanasoonthornChulalongkorn University Laboratory Animal Center, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand.
Anna RaksapatcharawongChakri Naruebodindra Medical Institute, Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Samut Prakarn, Thailand.
Dhirarin JunsaengDepartment of Clinical Pharmacokinetics, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kanazawa University, Ishikawa, Japan.
Kran SuknunthaChakri Naruebodindra Medical Institute, Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Samut Prakarn, Thailand.
Chanon PuttanawarutChakri Naruebodindra Medical Institute, Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Samut Prakarn, Thailand.
Phisit KhemawootChakri Naruebodindra Medical Institute, Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Samut Prakarn, Thailand.ORCID 0000-0001-7994-4503

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Thai herbs have been studied and developed as alternative or complementary medicines for several diseases. Some Thai herbs show immunomodulatory activities and might be beneficial for the development of novel phytopharmaceutical products. Purpose: This study aimed to review the immunomodulatory activities of Thai herbs to determine the druggability of the major bioactive components of these herbs. Materials and Methods: A list of 129 monographs (88 herbs) in the Thai Herbal Pharmacopoeia 2021 and its supplement from 2022 was used to review the immunomodulatory activities from various records and bibliological evidence. The potential bioactive components of these herbs were analyzed, and we determined druggability in compliance with Lipinski's rule of five. Results: Among the 74/88 (84%) herbs with immunomodulatory activity, 35 were studied in vitro and ex vivo and 39 were studied in vivo. The major immunomodulatory activity was decreased tumor necrosis factor-α (20%), interleukin-6 (15%), interleukin-1β (12%), interferon-γ (8%), and interleukin-10 (7%). Only 43/74 (58%) showed an association between their immunomodulatory activity and their major bioactive compounds. We excluded 18/43 (42%) of herbs because their bioactive compound concentration exceeded the cut-off of 10 µM, and Simplified Molecular Input Line Entry System format data were lacking. The remaining 25/43 (58%) contained 32 bioactive compounds, of which 17 were potential bioactive compounds that complied with all the criteria of Lipinski's rule of five. However, most of these potential bioactive compounds showed limitations in water solubility, and some compounds were reported to be extensively biotransformed in vivo. Conclusion: Some phytoconstituents of Thai herbs showed potential druggability as immunomodulatory agents in compliance with Lipinski's rule of five, the criteria for drug discovery. However, limitations in water solubility and metabolic stability mean these potential bioactive compounds might need some modifications for drug development. Addition of solubilizers, bioenhancers, and other drug delivery systems to improve pharmacokinetic profiles might be appropriate strategies to develop these bioactive compounds for future clinical applications.

Indexed as

Immunologic FactorsImmunomodulating AgentsPhytochemicalsPlants, MedicinalAnimalsDrug DevelopmentHumansThailandImmunologic FactorsImmunomodulating AgentsPhytochemicalsdrug candidateimmunomodulatory agentLipinski’s rule of fivephytopharmaceutical productThai herbs

Identifiers

PMID40734693
PMCPMC12306552

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.