Table I.
Completed Clinical Trials with Curcumin
| Disease | Pts (#) | Dosage; duration | Outcome [reference] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cancer | |||
| Colorectal cancer | 15 | 0.036–0.18 g/day; 4 months | Reduced glutathione S-transferase activity (13) |
| 15 | 0.45–3.6 g/day; 4 months | Reduced PGE2 production (14) | |
| 12 | 0.45–3.6 g/day; 7 days | Reduced the levels of M1G (15) | |
| 5 | 1.44 g/day; 6 monthsa | Reduced the number and size of polyps without any appreciable toxicity (16) | |
| 44 | 2 and 4 g/day; 1 month | Reduced ACF formation in smokers (17) | |
| 126 | 1.08 g/day; 10–30 days | Improved body weight, reduced serum TNF-α, and induced p53 expression (18) | |
| Pancreatic cancer | 20 | 1.5 g/day; 6 weeks a | Reduced the lipid peroxidation and increased GSH content in patients(19) |
| 25 | 8 g/day | Well-tolerated, limited absorption, and showed activity in some patients (12) | |
| 17 | 8 g/day; 4 weeksa | Not feasible for combination therapy (20) | |
| 21 | 8 g/daya | Safe and well-tolerated in patients (11) | |
| Breast cancer | 14 | 6 g/day; 7 day, every 3 weeksa | Safe, well-tolerated, and efficacious (21) |
| Prostate cancer | 85 | 0.1 g/day; 6 monthsa | Reduced the serum PSA content in combination with isoflavones(22) |
| Multiple myeloma | 26 | 4 g/day; 6 months | Decreased paraprotein load and urinary N-telopeptide of type I collagen (23) |
| 29 | 2–12 g/day; 12 weeksa | Safe, bioavailable, and efficacious against multiple myeloma (24) | |
| Lung cancer | 16 | 1.5 g/day; 30 daysc | Reduced the urinary excretion of mutagens in smokers (25) |
| Cancer lesions | 62 | Ointment | Produced remarkable symptomatic relief in patients with external cancerous lesions (26) |
| 58 | 3.6 g/day, 3 monthsc | Reduced the number of micronuclei in mucosal cells and in circulating lymphocytes (27) | |
| 25 | 8 g/day, 3 months | Improved the precancerous lesions (28) | |
| 100 | 2 g/day; 7 weeksa | Well tolerated, but not efficacious (29) | |
| 75 | 1 g/day, 7 day | Increased vitamins C and E levels, decreased MDA and 8-OHdG contents in the serum and saliva(30) | |
| Head and neck cancer | 39 | 2 tablets | Decreased IKKβ kinase activity and IL-8 levels in the saliva (31) |
| Inflammatory diseases | |||
| Crohn disease | 5 | 1.08 g/day, 1 month + 1.44 g/day, 2 months | Significant reductions in CDAI and inflammatory indices in patients (32) |
| Ulcerative proctitis | 5 | 1.1 g/day for 1 month + 1.65 g/day for 1 month | Significant reduction in symptoms as well as inflammatory indices in patients (32) |
| Ulcerative colitis | 89 | 2 g/day; 6 monthsa | Prevented relapse of disease (33) |
| 1 | 0.5 g/day; 2–10 months | Associated with clinical and endoscopic remission of the disease (34) | |
| Inflammatory bowel disease | ex vivo | 5–20 μM; 0.5–24 h | Suppressed p38 MAPK activation, reduced IL-1β, and enhanced IL-10 levels in mucosal biopsies; suppressed MMP-3 in colonic myofibroblasts (35) |
| Irritable bowel syndrome | 207 | 0.072 and 0.144 g STE/day; 8 weeksc | Produced significant reduction in the prevalence of symptoms (36) |
| 8 | 0.5 g in food | Increased bowel motility and activated hydrogen producing bacterial flora in the colon (37) | |
| Rheumatoid arthritis | 18 | 1.2 g/day; 2 weeks | Improved joint swelling, morning stiffness, and walking time (38) |
| 45 | 0.5 g/day; 8 weeks | Improved the RA symptoms in patients alone and in combination with diclofenac sodium (39) | |
| Osteoarthritis | 50 | 0.2 g/day; 3 months | Efficacious in the management andtreatment of osteoarthritis (40) |
| 100 | 1 g/day; 8 months | Efficacious in the long-term management of osteoarthritis (41) | |
| Chronic anterior uveitis | 53 | 1.125 g/day; 12 weeks | Efficacy and recurrence of the disease comparable to that for corticosteroid therapy without any adverse effect (42) |
| Recurrent anterior uveitis | 106 | 1.2 g/day; 12–18 months | Reduced the eye discomfort after a few weeks of treatment in more than 80% of patients (43) |
| Postoperative inflammation | 46 | 1.2 g/day; 6 day | Exhibited superior anti-inflammatory property compared with phenylbutazone (44) |
| Gastric ulcer | 60 | 1 g/day; 6–12 weeks | Reduced ulcer formation after 12 weeks (45) |
| Peptic ulcer | 45 | 3 g/day; 4 weeks | Reduced ulcer formation (46) |
| H. pylori infection | 25 | 0.06 g/day; 1 weeka | Improved dyspeptic symptoms and reduced serologic signs of gastric inflammation (47) |
| 36 | 0.12 g/day; 4 weeksa | Insignificant effect on H. pylori eradication (48) | |
| Idiopathic orbital inflammatory pseudotumor | 8 | 1.125 g/day; 6–22 months | Patients recovered from the disease (49) |
| Skin conditions | |||
| Vitiligo | 10 | Twice/day; 12 weeksb | Improved the repigmentation in combination with NB-UVB (50) |
| Psoriasis | 40 | 1% in gel; 4 weeks | Anti-psoriatic activity in association with suppression in PhK activity (51) |
| 12 | 4.5 g/day; 12 weeks | Low response rate, but well-tolerated (52) | |
| Neurodegenerative diseases | |||
| Dejerine-Sottas disease | 1 | 1.5 g/day; 4 months and 2.5 g/day; 8 months | Exhibited safety and efficacy (53) |
| Alzheimer’s disease | 33 | 2–4 g/day; 24 weeks | Observations yet to be published (54) |
| 34 | 1–4 g/day; 6 m | Found safe and increased vitamin E level (55) | |
| Cardiac conditions | |||
| Acute coronary syndrome | 70 | 0.045, 0.09, 0.18 g/day; 2 months | Reduced total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol, and increased HDL cholesterol and triglyceride content in patients (56) |
| Atherosclerosis | 10 | 0.5 g/day; 7 days | Reduced serum lipid peroxides and total serum cholesterol levels, and increased HDL cholesterol (57) |
| Metabolic diseases | |||
| Diabetes | 1 | 5 g/day; 3 months a, c | Reduced the fasting blood sugar from 140 to 70 mg/dl (58) |
| 72 | 0.6 g/d; 8 weeks | Improved endothelial function and reduced levels of oxidative stress and inflammatory biomarkers (59) | |
| 14 | 6 g, 15–120 min | Increased postprandial serum insulin levels, insignificant effect on plasma glucose levels and the glycemic index (60) | |
| 240 | 1.5 g/day; 9 months | Participants showed a better overall function of β cells, with higher HOMA-β and adiponectin, and lower C-peptide and HOMA-IR (61) | |
| Diabetic nephropathy | 40 | 1.5 g/day; 2 monthsc | Attenuated proteinuria, TGF-β, and IL-8 in overt type 2 diabetic nephropathy (62) |
| Diabetic microangiopathy | 25 | 1 g/day, 4 weeks | Improved the symptoms of disease (63) |
| Lupus nephritis | 24 | 500 mg/day, 3 months | Decreased proteinuria, hematuria, and systolic blood pressure in patients with relapsing or refractory lupus nephritis (64) |
| Renal conditions | |||
| Renal transplantation | 43 | 480–960 mg/day; 1 montha | Improved early outcomes in cadaveric renal transplantation (65) |
| Viral diseases | |||
| Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome | 40 | 2.5 g/day; 8 weeks | Viral load and CD4 cells count were unaffected (66) |
| Others | |||
| β-Thalassemia | 21 | 0.5 g/day; 12 months | Improved the oxidative stress parameters (67) |
| Biliary dyskinesia | 76 | Extract; 3 weeksc | Relieved pain due to biliary dyskinesia (68) |
| Gallbladder contraction | 12 | 0.02 g, 0.5–2 h | Reduced the gallbladder volume (69) |
| Recurrent respiratory tract infections | 10 | 3 g/day; 4 weeks a | Reduced the infections and produced beneficial immunomodulatory effects (70) |
| Cholecystitis | 67 | 0.1–0.25 g/day; 3 monthsa | Relieved the patients from disease (10) |
| Hepatoprotection | 528 | 1 g/day; 6 months a, c | Prevented ATT-associated hepatotoxicity (71) |
| Chronic arsenic exposure | 286 | 1 g/day; 3 months a | Exhibited activities against As-induced genotoxicity (72) |
| Alcohol intoxication | 7 | 0.03 g, single dose | Inhibited alcohol intoxication (73) |
| Chronic bacterial prostatitis | 143 | 0.2 g/day; 2 weeksa | Enhanced the efficacy of prulifloxacin in combination with other phytochemicals (74) |
8-OHdG 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine, ACF aberrant crypt foci, As arsenic, ATT antituberculosis treatment, CDAI Crohn disease activity index, CD4 cluster of differentiation 4, GSH glutathione, HDL high-density lipoprotein, H. pylori Helicobacter pylori, HOMA homeostasis model assessment, IKK IκB kinase, IL interleukin, IR insulin resistance, LDL low-density lipoprotein, M 1 G pyrimido[1,2-a]purin-10(3H)-one, MAPK mitogen-activated protein kinase, MDA malondialdehyde, MMP-3 matrix metalloproteinase-3, NB-UVB narrowband UVB, PGE 2 prostaglandin E2, PhK phosphorylase kinase, PSA prostate-specific antigen, RA rheumatoid arthritis, STE standard turmeric extract, TGF-β transforming growth factor beta, TNF-α tumor necrosis factor-α
aCombination study
bStudy with curcumin analogue
cStudy with turmeric/C. longa