Table 2.

Health benefits of curcumin and the mechanisms by which it affects them according to recent literature.

Effect of Curcumin	Mechanism of Action	Reference
Antioxidant	Can scavenge reactive oxidizing substances	[180]
	Enhances the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx)	[116]
	Activates antioxidant factors including Nrf2, heme oxygenase (HO-1), and proliferator-activated receptor-gamma coactivator (PGC-1α)	[181]
	Prevents LDL (low-density lipoprotein) oxidation	[182]
Antibacterial	Penetrates bacterial cell membranes and makes them permeable for antibiotic absorption.	[119]
	Causes phototoxicity and inhibits bacterial growth when exposed to blue light.	[15]
	Inhibits the growth of Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria	[121]
Antidepressant	Can regulate the concentrations of diverse neurotransmitters, including norepinephrine, dopamine, and serotonin.	[136]
	Has strong interactions with the MAO enzyme	[183]
Antidiabetic	Can increase Akt and GSK-3β phosphorylation	[141]
	Can lower glucose levels and decrease insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, and malondialdehyde levels	[184]
	Can enhance the expression of the GLUT4 gene
	Can reduce the levels of leptin, resistin, interleukin (IL)-6 IL-1β, and tumour necrosis factor-α	[145]
Anticancer	Inhibits the proliferation of human colon cancer SW620 and MC-38 cells	[165]
	Has antiproliferation effects by inhibiting the binding activity of NF-kB, AP-1, EGR, and β catenin	[185]
	Inhibits liver cancer HepG2 cells by inhibiting heat shock protein 70 (HSP70)—toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) signaling	[149]
	Can inhibit the migration of esophageal cancer tumor cells by enhancing the expression of nonmetastatic gene 23 (Nm 23), antimetastatic protein tissue inhibition metalloproteinase (TIMP)-2, and E-cadherin	[160]