The Discovery of Reduced Iso-Alpha Acids

In 2002, the MetaProteomics research team began searching for effective anti-inflammatory ingredients with superior safety in comparison to conventional products. In their quest, they screened 100s of molecules from Humulus lupulus, or hops. The result was the identification of a class of hops molecules called reduced iso-alpha acids (RIAA). One of the most intriguing features of RIAA is that it did not directly inhibit cyclooxygenase-1 (COX-1) or cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) like common anti-inflammatory products. By not directly inhibiting COX-1 and COX-2, RIAA avoids the well-known potential gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, and renal side effects associated with anti-inflammatories. This helped to frame RIAA as a new class of inflammatory agents. These results were published proceedings from the 1st International Symposium on Humulus.

[Matthew Tripp, PhD, Gary Darland, PhD, Daniel Lukaczer, Jeffrey S. Bland PhD. Hop and modified hop extracts have potent in vitro anti-inflammatory properties. Published Proceedings from 1st International Symposium on Humulus. Editors K.E. Hummer and J.A. Henning Acta Horiculturae 668, ISHS 2005.]