Curcuma Longa Herbs: A Mechanism to Increase the Innate Immune Response Through a Pharmacological System Approach

Abstract

Innate immunity is the body’s first line of defense against infection. One form of the innate immune response is the production of the antimicrobial peptide cathelicidin, which has many important roles in the host immunity against tuberculosis infection, as well as being an antimicrobial therapy. This study’s objective was to determine the potential effect of Curcuma longa, an herb commonly found in Indonesia, to increase the production of the antimicrobial peptide cathelicidin, and its interaction patterns in cells using an in silico approach. The data on the chemical content of the plant were gathered from the Dr. Duke Phytochemical Database, with the prediction of absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) of compounds in the plant’s rhizomes conducted using the Swiss ADME Software. The Swisstargetprediction.ch website was used to predict the relationship of the plant compounds with cell proteins, and STRINGDB was used to look for pharmacological networks. The results showed that C. longa enhances innate immunity through the activation of TLR7/9 and other related proteins. The findings also showed that the activation of the innate immune response is followed by activation of the adaptive immune response along with its related proteins.
 Keywords: antimicrobial peptide, cathelicidin, C. longa, pharmacological network