. 2016 Sep 9;7(3):339–346. doi: 10.1016/j.jtcme.2016.08.002

Table 1.

Mechanism of action of curcumin.

Curcumin mechanism of action²^,⁶^,⁷^,⁸^,⁹^,¹⁰^,¹¹^,¹²^,¹³^,¹⁴^,¹⁵^,¹⁶^,¹⁷^,¹⁸^,¹⁹^,²⁰
Anti-inflammatory
Down-regulates activity of COX-2, lipoxygenase and inducible iNOS enzymes
Inhibits production of TNF-alpha, IL-1, -2, -6, -8, and -12, MCP, migration inhibitory protein
Down-regulates mitogen-activated and Janus kinases
Anti-neoplastic via cell-cycle arrest
Inhibits expression of cyclin D1 and CDK4 via acetylation and upregulation of p53
ATP-competitive inhibitor by down-regulating mRNA & protein expression of cyclin D1
Induction of CDK inhibitors p16(/INK4a), p21(/WAF1/CIP1), and p27(/KIP1)
Inhibits cyclin E/cyclin D1 expression
Hyperphosphorylation of retinoblastoma (Rb) protein (CDK2 substrate)
Induction of apoptotic signals
Induced upregulation of Fas, FasL, and DR5 expression
Enhances cleavage of procaspases and poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase
Upregulates the expression of DR 4 and 5
Inhibits the TNF-α-induced production of IL-6/IL-8 in HaCaT cells
p38-dependent upregulation of FasL in Huh7 cells
Inhibits TNF-α-induced activation of NF-κB, including NF-κB-P65