The article I
read for this week discussed the mechanisms through which curcumin, an Indian spice
derived from the rhizomes (the stem) of the plant, has antioxidant, antimicrobial,
anti-proliferative, and anti-inflammatory properties. I found a review article that
solely discusses the anti-inflammatory properties of curcumin. The review says
that curcumin
modulates inflammatory responses by down-regulating the activity of
cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), lipoxygenase, and iNOS enzymes. It inhibits the
production of the inflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-a), interleukin IL 1, 2, 6, 8, and 12, and it down-regulates Janus
kinases, all of which are involved in inflammatory responses. The reason
curcumin is able to have anti-inflammatory properties is because iNOS
inhibition is accomplished via curcumin’s suppression of nuclear factor kappa B
(NF-κB) activation.
The review also
discusses the therapeutic effects of curcumin with ocular conditions and gastrointestinal
conditions. It even mentions numerous ongoing trials that are studying the benefits
of curcumin on inflammatory conditions and the benefits of curcumin when used
for cancer treatment. While conclusive results have not been obtained from
these ongoing trials, results collected have provided a solid foundation for
future studies.
Curcumin has
demonstrated its potential to be a beneficial, therapeutic agent for numerous
inflammatory conditions. Currently, the limitations of clinical studies include
curcumin’s bioavailability and its interaction with other drugs or analogs. My
questions to you are because of curcumin’s rapid plasma clearance rate, its therapeutic usefulness has been somewhat limited, what do you think
researchers could do to decrease curcumin’s rapid plasma clearance rate? Researchers
have tried to combine curcumin with phospholipids to decrease the clearance
rate, do you think there are any risks combining curcumin with phospholipids?
In addition, we know that curcumin may not be as therapeutically effective when
it interacts with anticoagulants or other substances such as chemotherapy
drugs, so what might researchers consider for further studies in order to
prevent negative interactions?
Reference: http://www.thorne.com/altmedrev/.fulltext/14/2/141.pdf
As you said curcumin has lots of beneficial health effects but it also has a poor oral bioavailability (a low percentage of what you consume is absorbed).I think it should be mixed with some agents such as phospholipids and black pepper. Black pepper has some agents called pipeline which it will help to enhance the bioavailability also an inhibitor of glucuronidation enzymes in the intestines and liver, is able to increase bioavailability but if you use for anti-inflmmatory for your colon is more desirable to not mixed with any agents because you want less bioavailability for colon. Curcumin is lipophilicity, is transported in the blood via transports; most likely binding to Human Serum Albumin, so complexing curcumin with phospholipids can increase its incorporation into lipophilic membranes.
ReplyDeleteHi Diyana.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the post! I have to say that I have read quite a few articles about curcumin and its anti-inflammatory effects and I did not come across anything that mentioned combining it with black pepper. That is really interesting! Thanks for also including the mechanism by which black pepper would function. I think if curcumin combined with black pepper really is able to increase the bioavailiability, that would be really beneficial for future studies and clinical trials.
This might be a little farfetched, but what if we bypass the digestive system completely and use curcumin in creams and oils? Or maybe even shampoos or body wash. There are many different massages done with weird chemicals that are supposed to be really cleansing and healthy for our skins and bodies, so I was thinking in order to bypass the clearance rate we could use it as a topical measure.
ReplyDeleteYour other question deals with curcumin interacting with anticoagulants, and I was thinking maybe researchers should try finding out if there is a 'right' quantity of both, where you have just enough curcumin as to where it helps but does not interact with the anticoagulant..