Curcumin as a therapeutic agent: the evidence from in vitro, animal and human studies - PubMed

Affiliations

• PMID: 20100380
• DOI: 10.1017/S0007114509993667

Review

Curcumin as a therapeutic agent: the evidence from in vitro, animal and human studies

Jenny Epstein et al. Br J Nutr. 2010 Jun.

Abstract

Curcumin is the active ingredient of turmeric. It is widely used as a kitchen spice and food colorant throughout India, Asia and the Western world. Curcumin is a major constituent of curry powder, to which it imparts its characteristic yellow colour. For over 4000 years, curcumin has been used in traditional Asian and African medicine to treat a wide variety of ailments. There is a strong current public interest in naturally occurring plant-based remedies and dietary factors related to health and disease. Curcumin is non-toxic to human subjects at high doses. It is a complex molecule with multiple biological targets and different cellular effects. Recently, its molecular mechanisms of action have been extensively investigated. It has anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and anti-cancer properties. Under some circumstances its effects can be contradictory, with uncertain implications for human treatment. While more studies are warranted to further understand these contradictions, curcumin holds promise as a disease-modifying and chemopreventive agent. We review the evidence for the therapeutic potential of curcumin from in vitro studies, animal models and human clinical trials.

Similar articles

• Curcumin as "Curecumin": from kitchen to clinic.

  Goel A, Kunnumakkara AB, Aggarwal BB. Goel A, et al. Biochem Pharmacol. 2008 Feb 15;75(4):787-809. doi: 10.1016/j.bcp.2007.08.016. Epub 2007 Aug 19. Biochem Pharmacol. 2008. PMID: 17900536 Review.

• Anticancer and carcinogenic properties of curcumin: considerations for its clinical development as a cancer chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic agent.

  López-Lázaro M. López-Lázaro M. Mol Nutr Food Res. 2008 Jun;52 Suppl 1:S103-27. doi: 10.1002/mnfr.200700238. Mol Nutr Food Res. 2008. PMID: 18496811 Review.

• Curcumin and the cellular stress response in free radical-related diseases.

  Calabrese V, Bates TE, Mancuso C, Cornelius C, Ventimiglia B, Cambria MT, Di Renzo L, De Lorenzo A, Dinkova-Kostova AT. Calabrese V, et al. Mol Nutr Food Res. 2008 Sep;52(9):1062-73. doi: 10.1002/mnfr.200700316. Mol Nutr Food Res. 2008. PMID: 18792015 Review.

• Challenges associated with curcumin therapy in Alzheimer disease.

  Belkacemi A, Doggui S, Dao L, Ramassamy C. Belkacemi A, et al. Expert Rev Mol Med. 2011 Nov 4;13:e34. doi: 10.1017/S1462399411002055. Expert Rev Mol Med. 2011. PMID: 22051121 Review.

• Multi-targeted therapy by curcumin: how spicy is it?

  Goel A, Jhurani S, Aggarwal BB. Goel A, et al. Mol Nutr Food Res. 2008 Sep;52(9):1010-30. doi: 10.1002/mnfr.200700354. Mol Nutr Food Res. 2008. PMID: 18384098 Review.

Cited by

• Discovery of curcumin, a component of golden spice, and its miraculous biological activities.

  Gupta SC, Patchva S, Koh W, Aggarwal BB. Gupta SC, et al. Clin Exp Pharmacol Physiol. 2012 Mar;39(3):283-99. doi: 10.1111/j.1440-1681.2011.05648.x. Clin Exp Pharmacol Physiol. 2012. PMID: 22118895 Free PMC article. Review.

• Synthesis of Aromatic Retinoids and Curcuminoids and Evaluation of their Antiproliferative, Antiradical, and Anti-inflammatory Activities.

  Morzycki JW, Rárová L, Grúz J, Sawczuk T, Kiełczewska U, Siergiejczyk L, Wojtkielewicz A. Morzycki JW, et al. ChemistryOpen. 2016 Jun 15;5(4):339-50. doi: 10.1002/open.201600027. eCollection 2016 Aug. ChemistryOpen. 2016. PMID: 27547644 Free PMC article.

• Antiviral Natural Products for Arbovirus Infections.

  Goh VSL, Mok CK, Chu JJH. Goh VSL, et al. Molecules. 2020 Jun 17;25(12):2796. doi: 10.3390/molecules25122796. Molecules. 2020. PMID: 32560438 Free PMC article. Review.

• Hydrogels as promising carriers for the delivery of food bioactive ingredients.

  Li M, He X, Zhao R, Shi Q, Nian Y, Hu B. Li M, et al. Front Nutr. 2022 Sep 27;9:1006520. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2022.1006520. eCollection 2022. Front Nutr. 2022. PMID: 36238460 Free PMC article. Review.

• The delicate balance between secreted protein folding and endoplasmic reticulum-associated degradation in human physiology.

  Guerriero CJ, Brodsky JL. Guerriero CJ, et al. Physiol Rev. 2012 Apr;92(2):537-76. doi: 10.1152/physrev.00027.2011. Physiol Rev. 2012. PMID: 22535891 Free PMC article. Review.

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances

LinkOut - more resources

• Full Text Sources

  • Cambridge University Press
  • Ovid Technologies, Inc.

• Other Literature Sources

  • The Lens - Patent Citations Database