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Turmeric and liver disease
Identifier
005579
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
A description of the experience
Liver Int. 2009 Nov;29(10):1457-66. doi: 10.1111/j.1478-3231.2009.02086.x. Pharmacological actions of curcumin in liver diseases or damage. Rivera-Espinoza Y, Muriel P. Departamento de Graduados e Investigación en Alimentos, Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Carpio y Plan de Ayala, México City, México.
Since 1900 bc, several therapeutic activities have been attributed to the rhizomes of the plant Curcuma longa for a variety of diseases, including liver disorders.
Curcumin, the main active compound obtained from this plant, was first isolated two centuries ago and its structure as diferuloylmethane was determined in 1910.
Curcumin has shown anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, antifungal, antibacterial and anticancer activities.
The pharmacological properties of curcumin were reviewed recently and focused mainly on its anticancer properties. However, its beneficial activity on liver diseases (known centuries ago, and demonstrated recently utilizing animal models) has not being reviewed in depth until now.
The curcumin ability to inhibit several factors like nuclear factor-kappaB, which modulates several pro-inflammatory and profibrotic cytokines as well as its anti-oxidant properties, provide a rational molecular basis to use it in hepatic disorders. Curcumin attenuates liver injury induced by ethanol, thioacetamide, iron overdose, cholestasis and acute, subchronic and chronic carbon tetrachloride (CCl(4)) intoxication; moreover, it reverses CCl(4) cirrhosis to some extent.
Unfortunately, the number of studies of curcumin on liver diseases is still very low and investigations in this area must be encouraged because hepatic disorders constitute one of the main causes of worldwide mortality.
PMID: 19811613
The source of the experience
PubMedConcepts, symbols and science items
Concepts
Symbols
Science Items
Activities and commonsteps
Activities
Overloads
AlcoholismBacterial infection
Cancer
Fungal infection
Hepatitis
Inflammation
Liver disease