Therapeutic potential of curcumin in gastrointestinal diseases

Short-term effects of highly-bioavailable curcumin for treating knee osteoarthritis: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled prospective study

BACKGROUND

We previously developed a surface-controlled water-dispersible form of curcumin and named it Theracurmin(®) (Theracurmin; Theravalues, Tokyo, Japan). The area under the blood concentration-time curve of Theracurmin in humans was 27-fold higher than that of curcumin powder. We determined the clinical effects of orally administered Theracurmin in patients with knee osteoarthritis during 8 weeks of treatment.

METHODS

Fifty patients with knee osteoarthritis of Kellgren-Lawrence grade II or III and who were aged more than 40 years were enrolled in this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, prospective clinical study. Placebo or Theracurmin containing 180 mg/day of curcumin was administered orally every day for 8 weeks. To monitor adverse events, blood biochemistry analyses were performed before and after 8 weeks of each intervention. The patients' knee symptoms were evaluated at 0, 2, 4, 6, and 8 weeks by the Japanese Knee Osteoarthritis Measure, the knee pain visual analog scale (VAS), the knee scoring system of the Japanese Orthopedic Association, and the need for nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

RESULTS

At 8 weeks after treatment initiation, knee pain VAS scores were significantly lower in the Theracurmin group than in the placebo group, except in the patients with initial VAS scores of 0.15 or less. Theracurmin lowered the celecoxib dependence significantly more than placebo. No major side effects were observed with Theracurmin treatment.

CONCLUSION

Theracurmin shows modest potential for the treatment of human knee osteoarthritis.

Assessing the viability of microsponges as gastro retentive drug delivery system of curcumin: optimization and pharmacokinetics

The work was aimed to validate the gastroretentive potential of microsponges via optimization of targeted floating curcumin microsponges for improved site specific absorption for gastric cancer Modified quasi emulsion solvent diffusion method was used to formulate microsponges using 3(2) full factorial design. The effect of different levels of ethyl cellulose and polyvinyl alcohol concentration, selected as independent variables was determined on the % entrapment efficiency, % buoyancy and % cumulative drug release. Modified rosette rise apparatus was used for in vitro release and the release data best fitted Higuchi's model and mechanism of drug release was diffusion (n). The optimized formulation (MS5) demonstrated favourable % entrapment efficiency (90.7 ± 1.7), % buoyancy (82.0 ± 2.0) and % cumulative drug release (85.2 ± 1.07) with maximum desirability factor of 0.816. SEM revealed spherical and porous microsponges. DSC confirmed molecular dispersion of the drug in the microsponges polymeric matrix. DRIFT revealed no chemical interaction between the drug and polymer used. The in vitro permeation of curcumin through gastric mucin gel layer affirmed the capability of microsponges to deliver drug across mucin r and reach the target site to treat gastric cancer. Anticancer oral dose of microsponges was calculated as 50mg by cytotoxicity assay in human cancer cell line KB. The pharmacokinetic evaluation of MS5 in rabbits revealed 10-fold increase in bioavailability as compared to native curcumin, demonstrated the superiority of microsponges over native curcumin as gastro retentive drug delivery system. This study presents a new approach based on floating ability of microsponges for treatment of gastric cancer.

Curcumin for radiation dermatitis: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial of thirty breast cancer patients

Radiation dermatitis occurs in approximately 95% of patients receiving radiotherapy (RT) for breast cancer. We conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial to assess the ability of curcumin to reduce radiation dermatitis severity in 30 breast cancer patients. Eligible patients were adult females with noninflammatory breast cancer or carcinoma in situ prescribed RT without concurrent chemotherapy. Randomized patients took 2.0 grams of curcumin or placebo orally three times per day (i.e., 6.0 grams daily) throughout their course of RT. Weekly assessments included Radiation Dermatitis Severity (RDS) score, presence of moist desquamation, redness measurement, McGill Pain Questionnaire-Short Form and Symptom Inventory questionnaire. The 30 evaluable patients were primarily white (90%) and had a mean age of 58.1 years. Standard pooled variances t test showed that curcumin reduced RDS at end of treatment compared to placebo (mean RDS = 2.6 vs. 3.4; P = 0.008). Fisher's exact test revealed that fewer curcumin-treated patients had moist desquamation (28.6% vs. 87.5%; P = 0.002). No significant differences were observed between arms for demographics, compliance, radiation skin dose, redness, pain or symptoms. In conclusion, oral curcumin, 6.0 g daily during radiotherapy, reduced the severity of radiation dermatitis in breast cancer patients.

Synthesis and characterization of ligational behavior of curcumin drug towards some transition metal ions: chelation effect on their thermal stability and biological activity

Complexes of Cr(III), Mn(II), Fe(III), Co(II), Ni(II), Cu(II) and Zn(II) with curcumin ligand as antitumor activity were synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, conductometry, magnetic susceptibility, UV-Vis, IR, Raman, ESR, (1)H-NMR spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction analysis of powdered samples and thermal analysis, and screened for antimicrobial activity. The IR spectral data suggested that the ligand behaves as a monobasic bidentate ligand towards the central metal ion with an oxygen's donor atoms sequence of both -OH and C=O groups under keto-enol structure. From the microanalytical data, the stoichiometry of the complexes 1:2 (metal:ligand) was found. The ligand and their metal complexes were screened for antibacterial activity against Escherichia Coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa and fungicidal activity against Aspergillus flavus and Candida albicans.

Relationship between development and progression of severe acute pancreatitis and neutrophil apoptosis-related proteins in rats

AIM: To investigate the relationship between the development and progression of severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) and apoptosis-related proteins in rats.

METHODS: Sixty SD rats were randomly divided into two groups: acute necrotizing pancreatitis (ANP) group and sham-operated (SO) group (n = 30 for each). At 3, 6, and 12 h after induction of ANP, the rats were sacrificed and blood samples were collected from the inferior vena cava. Density gradient centrifugation was conducted to separate polymorpho nuclear neutrophils (PMNs), and PMN apoptosis was determined by flow cytometry. PMNs collected at 12 h were lysed, and label-free technology was used to identify apoptosis-related proteins. Twenty-eight SAP patients treated at our hospital from June 2008 to June 2012 were randomly divided into a treatment group and a control group (n = 14 for each). The control group underwent conventional treatment, while the treatment group was treated with conventional treatment plus continuous infusion of somatostatin. The mean duration of abdominal pain, amylase recovery time, length of hospital stay, and the incidence of complications, rate of conversion to surgery, and mortality were compared between the two groups.

RESULTS: PMN apoptosis was significantly delayed in the ANP group compared to the SO group at all time points (all P < 0.01). Four PMN apoptosis-related proteins were identified: 78 KDa glucose-regulated protein, RhoGTPase, L-lactic acid dehydrogenase A chain, and hemoglobin α2 chain (ANP/SO ratios: 1.953614, 3.526625, 1.766764, 0.609825; all P < 0.05). The mean duration of abdominal pain, amylase recovery time and length of stay were significantly shorter (P = 0.041, 0.001, 0.000), and the incidence of complications, rate of conversion to surgery, and mortality were significantly lower in the treatment group than in the control group (P = 0.022, 0.029, 0.029).

CONCLUSION: PMN apoptosis delay in ANP may be mediated by apoptosis-related proteins. Somatostatin therapy can significantly shorten the duration of patient's clinical symptoms and reduce complications and mortality.

Cancer prevention with promising natural products: mechanisms of action and molecular targets

Cancer is the second leading cause of death worldwide. There is greater need for more effective and less toxic therapeutic and preventive strategies. Natural products are becoming an important research area for novel and bioactive molecules for drug discovery. Phytochemicals and dietary compounds have been used for the treatment of cancer throughout history due to their safety, low toxicity, and general availability. Many active phytochemicals are in human clinical trials. Studies have indicated that daily consumption of dietary phytochemicals have cancer protective effects against carcinogens. They can inhibit, delay, or reverse carcinogenesis by inducing detoxifying and antioxidant enzymes systems, regulating inflammatory and proliferative signaling pathways, and inducing cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. Epidemiological studies have also revealed that high dietary intakes of fruits and vegetables reduce the risk of cancer. This review discusses potential natural cancer preventive compounds, their molecular targets, and their mechanisms of actions.

Curcumin--from molecule to biological function

Turmeric is traditionally used as a spice and coloring in foods. It is an important ingredient in curry and gives curry powder its characteristic yellow color. As a consequence of its intense yellow color, turmeric, or curcumin (food additive E100), is used as a food coloring (e.g. mustard). Turmeric contains the curcuminoids curcumin, demethoxycurcumin, and bisdemethoxycurcumin. Recently, the health properties (neuroprotection, chemo-, and cancer prevention) of curcuminoids have gained increasing attention. Curcuminoids induce endogenous antioxidant defense mechanisms in the organism and have anti-inflammatory activity. Curcuminoids influence gene expression as well as epigenetic mechanisms. Synthetic curcumin analogues also exhibit biological activity. This Review describes the development of curcumin from a "traditional" spice and food coloring to a "modern" biological regulator.