Curcumin is a polyphenolic active substance extracted from the ginger plant turmeric, which is widely used as a food additive and is often used as a natural pigment, flavoring agent, spice, and preservative. For a long time, scientists have done a lot of research on the biological activity and mechanism of action of curcumin, so do you know How curcumin works in the body?
Anti-tumor mechanism
Curcumin mainly achieves anti-tumor effects by inducing tumor cell apoptosis and regulating cell survival pathways. For example, didemethoxycurcumin can induce melanoma B16-F10 cell apoptosis by inhibiting the proliferation of melanoma B16-F10 cells. Death. Curcumin can reduce the formation of nitrous compounds in cancer cells, arrest the cell cycle, and make various tumor cells aggregate in the S phase (DNA replication phase), unable to enter the next proliferation cycle, in a dose-response relationship. Proliferating cells are more sensitive to the killing effect of curcumin, and they are dominant in killing proliferating cells to induce apoptosis. For example, mitochondria activate the caspase cascade to induce apoptosis in human leukemia cell lines and lymphoma cell lines. In addition, curcumin treatment has been found to improve histological precancerous lesions in clinical trials in the treatment of malignant lesions such as bladder cancer, oral leukoplakia, and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia.
Angiogenesis plays a crucial role in the growth of tumors, and anti-angiogenesis has become a research hotspot in tumor therapy. Many plant extracts have been confirmed to have anti-angiogenesis effects. Studies have shown that curcumin has anti-angiogenesis and metastatic effects.
In addition, curcumin has chemical sensitization and radiosensitization, and curcumin combined with irradiation can effectively enhance the apoptosis of tumor cells. The study compared curcumin, radiation, and curcumin combined with radiation on human retinal glioma. Cell cycle arrest, mitochondrial membrane potential changes, and effects on apoptosis in WERI-Rb-1 cells, the results show that curcumin combined with radiation can significantly reduce cell viability compared with curcumin alone treatment, and the low dose can enhance curcumin-induced apoptosis.
Anti-fibrotic mechanisms
The anti-fibrotic process of flavin can be summarized as inhibiting the abnormal proliferation and accumulation of extracellular matrix and protecting the corresponding organs and tissues through the anti-inflammatory effect of curcumin.
Kidney Protection Mechanisms
Curcumin can reduce the inflammatory renal response by attenuating pro-inflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor-α and monocyte chemoattractant protein. In addition, by attenuating renal macrophage infiltration, the pro-fibrotic cytokine TGF-β, inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (Cyclooxygenase-2, COX-2) expression can improve diabetes. Curcumin can improve the lipid peroxidation state of various tissues without changing the distribution of cadmium in the liver, kidney, and brain tissue, and play a protective role on the kidney.
Mechanism of preventing obesity
The ethanolic extract of curcumin can promote the differentiation of human adipocytes, activate receptor γ through peroxidase, and bind to ligands in adipocytes, thereby achieving an inhibitory effect on adipocyte differentiation. In vitro studies have demonstrated that curcumin can significantly reduce serum cholesterol and affect the expression of 2 key transcription factors in adipogenesis and adipogenesis. The reason why curcumin reduces weight curcumin can inhibit adipocyte differentiation and promote adipocyte apoptosis.
Obesity often induces the occurrence of cardiovascular disease. Curcumin has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-hypertrophic, and anti-fibrotic effects, which can significantly alleviate the related myocardial damage caused by obesity. Curcumin also has the potential to be used in the treatment of obesity-related heart disease.
Anti-inflammatory mechanism
Curcumin intervenes and significantly inhibits the expression of the inflammasome activation gene NRLP3, thereby interfering with the occurrence of cellular inflammatory response. In addition, curcumin has a strong broad-spectrum antifungal effect against Trichophyton rubrum, Trichophyton mentagrophytes, Epidermophyton, Candida albicans, Rhizoctonia solani, Phytophthora infestans, and Powdery mildew. The inhibitory effect can be used to treat skin inflammation.
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