Interaction of curcumin and capsaicin with LPS induced TRAF6 expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells

Abstract

The current study encompasses an in vitro and in silico methods to validate the drug target tumor necrosis factor (TNF) receptor associated factor 6 expression in lipopolysaccharide induced peripheral blood mononuclear cells using curcumin, capsaicin, and their combination. During inflammation, TNF receptor associated factor 6 induction is the basic response of immune system to counteract pathogen/antigen in the blood stream. The potency of curcumin, capsaicin, and their combination against lipopolysaccharide induced expression of TNF receptor associated factor 6 in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells was assessed quantitatively and qualitatively by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay and western blotting technique. The enzyme linked immunosorbent assay and western blotting technique have demonstrated that the treatment of curcumin and capsaicin have significantly decreased the lipopolysaccharide induced expression of TNF receptor associated factor 6 in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells, the decrease being even higher in the case of combination. To substantiate this study, in silico study was performed. The docking of curcumin and capsaicin at the active pocket of TNF receptor associated factor 6 has shown −8.13 and −9.29 kJ/mol docking energy with subsequent multiligand simultaneous docking has shown improved docking energy of −13.65 kJ/mol. Results suggest that the dietary curcumin and capsaicin inhibit the lipopolysaccharide induced TNF receptor associated factor 6 expression in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells. This beneficial effect was found to be higher when the two compounds were given in combination. This property could be attributed to the contribution of diversified functional moieties of curcumin and capsaicin in combination compared to individual molecules.