Research Progress on Pharmacological Effects and Mechanisms of Curcumin

Authors

  • Yuxing Liu
  • Qingmei Liu

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54691/prqsph65

Keywords:

Curcumin; Pharmacological Action; Dosage Form Development.

Abstract

Curcumin belongs to a class of polyphenol compounds, and its source is the rhizome of turmeric (belonging to Zingiberaceae). This substance is the main component of turmeric releasing its own pharmacological activity. Pharmacological experiments have confirmed that It has anti-tumor, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, accompanied by high efficiency and low toxicity. It also has high clinical promotion value. This paper reviews the pharmacological research progress of curcumin, hoping to provide new ideas for its clinical application and further research.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

[1] Heidari H, Bagherniya M, Majeed M, Sathyapalan T, Jamialahmadi T, Sahebkar A. Curcumin-piperine co-supplementation and human health: A comprehensive review of preclinical and clinical studies. Phytotherapy Research,vol 37, pp.1462-1487,Apr.2023.

[2] de Oliveira TV, Stein R, de Andrade DF, Beck RCR. Preclinical studies of the antitumor effect of curcumin-loaded polymeric nanocapsules: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Phytother Research,vol 36, pp.3202-3214, Aug.2022.

[3] Peng Y, Ao M, Dong B, Jiang Y, Yu L, Chen Z, Hu C, Xu R. Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Curcumin in the Inflammatory Diseases: Status, Limitations and Countermeasures. Drug design, development and therapy, vol 15,pp.4503-4525, Nov.2021.

[4] Ipar VS, Dsouza A, Devarajan PV. Enhancing Curcumin Oral Bioavailability Through Nanoformulations. Eur J Drug Metab Pharmacokinet. European journal of drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics, vol 44, pp.459-480,Aug.2019.

[5] Wan, X., & Wang, D. (2025). Curcumin: Epigenetic Modulation and Tumor Immunity in Antitumor Therapy. Planta medica, vol 91,pp.320-337,May.2025.

[6] Govahi A, Zahmatkesh N, Pourbagherian O, Khas NM, Salamzadeh T, Mehr HM, Babaei E, Hajivalili M. Antitumor Effects of Curcumin on Cervical Cancer with the Focus on Molecular Mechanisms: An Exegesis. Current pharmaceutical design,vol 29,pp.3385-3399,Dec,2023.

[7] MaruYama T, Yamakoshi H, Iwabuchi Y, Shibata H. Mono-Carbonyl Curcumin Analogs for Cancer Therapy. Biological & pharmaceutical bulletin ,vol 46,pp.756-763, 2023.

[8] Chang M, Wu M, Li H. Antitumor activities of novel glycyrrhetinic acid-modified curcumin-loaded cationic liposomes in vitro and in H22 tumor-bearing mice. Drug Deliv,vol 25,pp.1984-1995, Nov. 2018.

[9] Yavuz Türel G, Şahin Calapoğlu N, Bayram D, Özgöçmen M, Toğay VA, Evgen Tülüceoğlu E. Curcumin induces apoptosis through caspase dependent pathway in human colon carcinoma cells. Molecular biology reports,vol 49,pp.1351-1360, Feb,2022.

[10] Fu X, He Y, Li M, Huang Z, Najafi M. Targeting of the tumor microenvironment by curcumin. Biofactors, vol 47,pp.914-932,Nov.2021.

[11] Dehzad MJ, Ghalandari H, Nouri M, Askarpour M. Antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of curcumin/turmeric supplementation in adults: A GRADE-assessed systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Cytokine. 2023 Apr;164:156144.

[12] Peng Y, Ao M, Dong B, Jiang Y, Yu L, Chen Z, Hu C, Xu R. Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Curcumin in the Inflammatory Diseases: Status, Limitations and Countermeasures. Drug design, development and therapy,vol 15,pp.4503-4525,Nov,2021.

[13] Cantu-Herrera E, Lyndin M, Sikora K, Alexiou A, Bilgrami AL, Al-Ghamdi KM, Perveen A, Papadakis M, Ashraf GM. Antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and epigenetic potential of curcumin in Alzheimer's disease. BioFactors (Oxford, England),vol 50,pp.693-708, Jul-Aug,2024.

[14] Akhter N, Wilson A, Arefanian H, Thomas R, Kochumon S, Al-Rashed F, Abu-Farha M, Al-Madhoun A, Al-Mulla F, Ahmad R, Sindhu S. Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress Promotes the Expression of TNF-α in THP-1 Cells by Mechanisms Involving ROS/CHOP/HIF-1α and MAPK/NF-κB Pathways. Int J Mol Sci. 2023 Oct 14;24(20):15186.

[15] Wang L, Zheng W, Men Q, Ren X, Song S, Ai C. Curcumin-loaded polysaccharide microparticles alleviated DSS-induced ulcerative colitis by improving intestinal microecology and regulating MAPK/NF-κB/Nrf2/NLRP3 pathways. Int J Biol Macromol. 2024 Nov;281(Pt 4):136687.

[16] Lee DY, Lee SJ, Chandrasekaran P, Lamichhane G, O'Connell JF, Egan JM, Kim Y. Dietary Curcumin Attenuates Hepatic Cellular Senescence by Suppressing the MAPK/NF-κB Signaling Pathway in Aged Mice. Antioxidants (Basel). 2023 May 27;12(6):1165.

[17] Lee SE, Park HR, Jeon S, Han D, Park YS. Curcumin Attenuates Acrolein-induced COX-2 Expression and Prostaglandin Production in Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells. J Lipid Atheroscler. 2020 Jan;9(1):184-194.

[18] Skrzypczak-Jankun E, McCabe NP, Selman SH, Jankun J. Curcumin inhibits lipoxygenase by binding to its central cavity: theoretical and X-ray evidence. Int J Mol Med. 2000 Nov;6(5):521-6.

[19] Sadeghi M, Dehnavi S, Asadirad A, Xu S, Majeed M, Jamialahmadi T, Johnston TP, Sahebkar A. Curcumin and chemokines: mechanism of action and therapeutic potential in inflammatory diseases. Inflammopharmacology.vol 31, pp.1069-1093, Jun,2023.

[20] González-Ortega LA, Acosta-Osorio AA, Grube-Pagola P, Palmeros-Exsome C, Cano-Sarmiento C, García-Varela R, García HS. Anti-inflammatory Activity of Curcumin in Gel Carriers on Mice with Atrial Edema. Journal of oleo science,vol 69, pp.123-131,2020.

[21] Li C, Xu Y, Zhang J, Zhang Y, He W, Ju J, Wu Y, Wang Y. The effect of resveratrol, curcumin and quercetin combination on immuno-suppression of tumor microenvironment for breast tumor-bearing mice. Sci Rep. 2023 Aug 16;13(1):13278.

[22] Makuch S, Więcek K, Woźniak M. The Immunomodulatory and Anti-Inflammatory Effect of Curcumin on Immune Cell Populations, Cytokines, and In Vivo Models of Rheumatoid Arthritis. Pharmaceuticals (Basel). 2021 Apr 1;14(4):309.

[23] Liu C, Rokavec M, Huang Z, Hermeking H. Curcumin activates a ROS/KEAP1/NRF2/miR-34a/b/c cascade to suppress colorectal cancer metastasis. Cell Death Differ. 2023 Jul;30(7):1771-1785.

[24] Wang L, Wang C, Tao Z, Zhao L, Zhu Z, Wu W, He Y, Chen H, Zheng B, Huang X, Yu Y, Yang L, Liang G, Cui R, Chen T. Curcumin derivative WZ35 inhibits tumor cell growth via ROS-YAP-JNK signaling pathway in breast cancer. J Exp Clin Cancer Res. 2019 Nov 8;38(1):460.

[25] Heidari H, Bagherniya M, Majeed M, Sathyapalan T, Jamialahmadi T, Sahebkar A. Curcumin-piperine co-supplementation and human health: A comprehensive review of preclinical and clinical studies. Phytother Res. 2023 Apr;37(4):1462-1487.

[26] Keyvani-Ghamsari S, Khorsandi K, Gul A. Curcumin effect on cancer cells' multidrug resistance: An update. Phytotherapy research,vol 34, pp.2534-2556,Oct,2020.

[27] Farzaei MH, Zobeiri M, Parvizi F, El-Senduny FF, Marmouzi I, Coy-Barrera E, Naseri R, Nabavi SM, Rahimi R, Abdollahi M. Curcumin in Liver Diseases: A Systematic Review of the Cellular Mechanisms of Oxidative Stress and Clinical Perspective. Nutrients. 2018 Jul 1;10(7):855.

[28] Yu T, Dohl J, Wang L, Chen Y, Gasier HG, Deuster PA. Curcumin Ameliorates Heat-Induced Injury through NADPH Oxidase-Dependent Redox Signaling and Mitochondrial Preservation in C2C12 Myoblasts and Mouse Skeletal Muscle. J Nutr. 2020 Sep 1;150(9):2257-2267.

[29] Peng Y, Pu J, Tang C, Wu Z. Curcumin Inhibits Heat-Induced Apoptosis by Suppressing NADPH Oxidase 2 and Activating the Akt/mTOR Signaling Pathway in Bronchial Epithelial Cells. Cell Physiol Biochem. 2017;41(5):2091-2103.

[30] Keihanian F, Saeidinia A, Bagheri RK, Johnston TP, Sahebkar A. Curcumin, hemostasis, thrombosis, and coagulation. J Cell Physiol. 2018 Jun;233(6):4497-4511.

[31] Kritis P, Karampela I, Kokoris S, Dalamaga M. The combination of bromelain and curcumin as an immune-boosting nutraceutical in the prevention of severe COVID-19. Metabol Open. 2020 Dec; 8: 100066.

[32] Li XC, Yin LY, Cai H, Li XY, Ji XY, Zeng YY, Zeng ZW, Xie T. [Research progress in chemical constituents, pharmacological effects, and clinical application of Curcuma wenyujin and prediction of its quality markers]. Zhongguo Zhong Yao Za Zhi. 2023 Oct;48(20):5419-5437.

[33] Xia JM, Zhang J, Zhou WX, Liu XC, Han M. Downregulation of p38 MAPK involved in inhibition of LDL-induced proliferation of mesangial cells and matrix by curcumin. J Huazhong Univ Sci Technolog Med Sci. 2013 Oct;33(5):666-671.

[34] Li W, Jiang L, Lu X, Liu X, Ling M. Curcumin protects radiation-induced liver damage in rats through the NF-κB signaling pathway. BMC Complement Med Ther. 2021 Jan 6;21(1):10.

Downloads

Published

2025-07-21

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Liu, Y., & Liu, Q. (2025). Research Progress on Pharmacological Effects and Mechanisms of Curcumin. Scientific Journal of Technology, 7(7), 80-84. https://doi.org/10.54691/prqsph65