Table 1. Overview of recent clinical trials testing curcumin with respect to diabetic and inflammatory markers .

Treatment group	Dose; duration	Ref.	Effect of curcumin
25 T2DM patients	200 mg curcumin (1000 mg Meriva)/d; 4 w	(36)	Improvement of diabetic microangiopathy
10/9 healthy participants	500 mg/6000 mg curcumin/d; 7 d	(37)	Decline of serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels (more pronounced at the lower dose than the higher); enhancement of antioxidant capacity
20 T2DM nephropathy patients	66.3 mg curcumin (1500 mg tumeric)/d; 2 m	(38)	Attenuation of proteinuria, TGF-β and IL-8 levels
50 patients with osteoarthritis	200 mg curcumin (1000 mg Meriva)/d; 8 m	(39)	Decrease in inflammatory markers (IL-1β, IL-6, sCD40L, sVCAM-1, ESR)
21 patients with β-thalassemia/Hb E	500 mg curcuminoids (357 mg curcumin, 107 mg demethoxycurcumin, and 36 mg bisdemethoxycurcumin)/d; 12 m	(40)	Improvement of oxidative stress markers including MDA, SOD, GSH-Px, and GSH in RBCs, and NTBI in serum
15/14/15 patients with ACS	45/90/180 mg curcumin (2/4/8 g curcuma extract)/d; 2 m	(41)	Trend of reduction in total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol level by low-dose curcumin
8/11 healthy participants	1/4 g curcumin/d; 6 m	(42)	No significant effect on serum cholesterol or triacylglycerol
60 T2DM patients	Group I received standard metformin treatment and group II metformin therapy with turmeric (2 g) supplements for 4 w	(43)	Reduction in lipid peroxidation, MDA, and enhanced total antioxidant status. Beneficial effects on dyslipidemia and decrease in hsCRP

ACS: acute coronary syndrome; T2DM: Type 2 diabetes mellitus; g: gram; d: days; w: weeks; m: months; TGF-β: transforming growth factor beta 1; IL: interleukin; sCD40L: Soluble CD40 ligand; sVCAM-1: Soluble cell adhesion molecule-1; ESR: erythrocyte sedimentation rate; MDA: Malondialdehyde; hsCRP: high sensitive C-reactive protein; SOD: superoxide dismutase; GSH-Px: glutathione peroxidase; GSH: reduced glutathione; RBC: red blood cells; NTBI: non-transferrin bound iron