This metadata record and it's attached files make statements about the kinds of data collected as part of this research, and set out policies for governance of that data, now and in the future.Description: Kawakawa (Piper excelsum) is endemic to Aotearoa, New Zealand, and, as a taonga, is of great cultural importance to Maori. Kawakawa is used extensively in rongoa Maori (traditional Maori healing). The pharmacology of kawakawa is complex, with studies reporting kawakawa to contain several biologically active compounds that influence inflammation and related pathways. For example, myristicin inhibits the production of several pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as NO, IL-6 and IL-10, in mouse macrophages and THP-1 monocytes. Elemicin, another aromatic compound in kawakawa, is known to play a role in inhibiting IL-6. We hypothesize that the consumption of kawakawa would impact the inflammatory pathways by enhancing anti-inflammatory effects. However, several confounding variables, such as individualized differences in kawakawa tea preparation and doses and variability in the bioavailability of the active kawakawa constituents, could also alter the anti-inflammatory effects. Therefore, controlled human kawakawa trials are necessary to evaluate the effects of different doses of kawakawa consumption on inflammatory markers. To test our hypothesis, this study aims to quantify the effects of different kawakawa doses on inflammatory markers in healthy human volunteers.
