Table 1.

Evidence of antidiabetic effects of curcumin: in vivo Streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetes animal studies.

Animal	Curcumin Concentration/Duration	Serum Effects	Other Effects	Reference
Albino Wistar rats	0.5% of diet; 8 weeks	↓ Phospholipid ↓ Triglyceride ↑ PUFA/SFA ratio	↓ Kidney weight ↓ Renal lesion progression ↓ Renal damage ↓ Urine ALT and AST ↓ Kidney alkaline and acid phosphatase ↓ Glucose-6- phosphatase ↓ Lactate dehydrogenase ↑ ATPase activity	[25]
Albino Wistar rats	300 mg/kg b.w./day; 8 weeks	↓ Glucose ↓ Cholesterol ↓ Triglyceride ↓ Urea ↑ Creatinine	↓ Body weight ↓ Kidney lipid peroxidation ↑ Kidney Creatinine excreted ↑ Kidney SOD activity ↑ Kidney Catalase activity	[26]
Wistar Rats	80 mg/kg b.w./day; 45 days	↓ Glucose ↑ Insulin	↓ Lipid peroxidation Kidney: ↑ SOD ↑ Catalase ↑ GPx activity ↑ Glutathione-S-transferase Kidney and liver: ↓ TBARS ↓ H2O2	[27]
Sprague–Dawley rats	15 and 30 mg/kg b.w./day; 2 weeks	↓ Glucose ↓ Creatinine	↓ Renal changes ↓ Oxidative stress ↓ Urine albumin ↓ Proteinuria ↑ Creatinine clearance ↓ Lipid peroxidation Kidney: ↓ MDA ↑ SOD activity ↑ Catalase activity	[28]
Wistar-NIN rats	0.01% curcumin; 8 weeks	↓ Glucose ↓ Insulin ↑ SOD activity	↓ TBARS ↑ Pancreas catalase activity ↓ Pancreas SOD activity ↓ Glutathione-S-transferase activity	[29]
Sprague–Dawley rats	50 mg/kg b.w./day; 6 weeks	↓ Urea ↓ Creatinine	↑ Albumin ↓ HSP-27 protein ↓ p38 protein ↑ Acetyl-histone H3 ↑ Phospho-histone H3	[30]
C57/BL6J mice	7.5 mg/kg b.w./day; 10 h prior to STZ	↓ Glucose ↑ Insulin ↓ IL-16 ↓ TNF-α	↑ Glucose clearance ↑ GLUT2 mRNA ↓ Pancreatic IL-6 and TNF-α	[31]
Sprague-Dawley rats	150 mg/kg b.w./day; 1 month	↓ Glucose	↓ Body weight ↓ eNOS ↓ TGF-β1 mRNA ↓ Endothelin-1 mRNA ↓ Fibronectin mRNA ↓ EBF mRNA ↓ Oxidative stress ↓ HO-1 mRNA ↓ Nuclear 8-OHdG ↓ Cytosolic NT ↓ Mesangial expansion ↓ p300 activity ↓ NF-κB activity	[32]
Wistar rats	80 mg/kg b.w./day; 45 days	↓ Glucose ↑ Insulin	Kidney and liver: ↓ Morphological changes ↓ Oxidative stress ↓ TBARS ↓ HP ↑ SOD activity ↑ CAT activity ↑ GPx activity ↑ Glutathione activity	[33]
Swiss albino mice	10 mM; 10 µL/mouse i.p.; 28 days and 106 BMCs, single injection	↓ Glucose ↑ Insulin ↓ TNF-α ↓ IL-1β	↑ Islet regeneration Pancreas: ↓ MDA levels ↑ SOD activity ↑ Catalase activity ↑ GPx activity	[34]
Sprague–Dawley rats	100 mg/kg b.w./day; 8 weeks	↓ Glucose ↓ Urea ↓ Creatinine	Kidney: ↓ Histological changes ↓ PKC-α total and membrane protein ↓ PKC-β1 total and membrane protein ↓ P300 mRNA levels ↓ NOX4 and p67phox protein ↓ MDA levels ↑ GPx levels ↓ TGF-β1, VEGF, CTGF and OPN protein ↓ Type IV collagen, fibronectin and Flk-1	[35]
Sprague–Dawley rats	100 mg/kg b.w./day; 8 weeks	↓ Glucose ↓ Urea ↓ Creatinine	Kidney: ↓ Glomerular and tubular histological changes ↓ Segmental sclerosis ↓ Macrophage infiltration ↓ TNF-α and IL-1β mRNA and protein ↑ IκBα protein ↓ ICAM-1, MCP-1 and TGF-β1 protein ↓ Phospho-NF-κB	[36]
Sprague–Dawley rats	1 and 5 mg/kg b.w./day; 6 weeks	↓ TNF-α ↓ Creatinine	Kidney: ↓ Fibrosis ↓ TNF-α mRNA ↓ iNOS mRNA ↓ COX-2 mRNA ↓ TGF-β mRNA ↓ MCP-1 mRNA ↓ Glycogen levels ↓ Type IV collagen expression	[37]
Wistar rats	60 and 90 mg/kg b.w./day; 31 days	↓ Glucose ↓ Triglyceride	↓ Proteinuria ↓ Hepatic AST activity ↓ Hepatic ALT activity ↓ Hepatic ALP activity	[38]
Curl:HEL1 rats	10 mg/kg b.w./day; 45 days	↓ Glucose ↑ Insulin ↓ Cholesterol ↓ Triglyceride ↓ LDL ↑ HDL	↓ Pancreas, aorta and liver MDA levels	[39]
Sprague–Dawley rats	0.2 mg/kg b.w./day; 6 weeks	↓ TNF-α ↓ Creatinine ↓ Nitrite	↓ Renal macrophage infiltration Kidney and cardiac: ↓ TNF-α, COX-2, TGF-β and MCP-1 ↓ Glycogen ↓ Collagen IV expression	[40]
Sprague–Dawley rats	100 mg/kg b.w./day; 8 weeks	↓ Triglyceride	Kidney: ↓ Renal triglyceride ↑ Phospho-AMPK ↓ SREBP-1c protein ↓ TGF-β protein ↓ EGF protein ↓ Type IV collagen protein ↓ Fibronectin protein ↑ Nephrin protein	[41]
C57BL/6 mice	5 mg/kg b.w./second day; 67 days	↓ Creatinine ↓ Albumin ↓ Total protein ↓ Ang II	Kidney: ↓ Fibrosis ↓ Macrophage infiltration ↓ Glycogen levels ↓ Collagen IV ↓ ACE mRNA ↓ Phospho-ERK ↓ Phospho-p38 ↓ Phospho-JNK	[42]
Wistar rats	100 mg/kg b.w./day; 12 weeks	No measured effects	↓ Renal fibrosis ↓ Kidney weight ↓ IL-6, IL-1β and TNF-α protein ↓ Urinary protein ↓ Glomerulosclerosis index ↓ Fibronectin and collagen IV protein ↓ Glycogen ↓ Phospho-Cav-1 ↓ TLR4 mRNA	[43]
Wistar rats	100 mg/kg b.w./day; 12 weeks	↓ Glucose	↓ Renal fibrosis ↓ Kidney weight ↓ Urinary protein ↓ Glomerulosclerosis index ↑ P-cadherin and synaptopodin ↓ FSP-1, α-SMA and snail ↓ Phospho-Cav-1	[44]
Wistar rats	100 mg/kg b.w./day; 6 weeks	↓ Glucose ↓ Cholesterol ↓ LDL ↓ Creatinine ↓ Urea	↑ Body weight ↓ Kidney weight ↓ Nephropathy ↓ Renal ACE1 level Kidney and sciatic nerve: ↓ TNF-α ↓ IL-10	[45]
Wistar rats	100 and 200 mg/kg b.w./day; 8 weeks	No measured effects	↓ Kidney weight ↓ Albumin excretion ↑ Creatinine clearance rate Kidney: ↑ SOD activity ↓ MDA content ↓ Bax and cleaved PARP protein ↓ Caspase-3 activity ↑ Bcl-2 protein ↑ Phospho-cav-1	[46]
Wistar rats	1.5 mg/kg b.w./day; 8 weeks	↓ Cholesterol ↓ Triacylglycerol ↓ Phospholipid ↑ HDL ↓ Urea ↓ Creatinine	↓ Oxidative stress ↓ MDA content ↓ γ-glutamyltranspeptidase level Kidney: ↓ NO ↑ SOD activity ↑ GPx activity ↓ Kidney morphological changes ↓ Vimentin mRNA ↓ Desmin mRNA ↓ SREBP-1 mRNA ↓ iNOS mRNA ↓ TGF-β1 mRNA ↑ Synaptopodin mRNA ↑ Connexin 43 mRNA ↑ Erythropoietin mRNA	[47]
Wistar rats	100 mg/kg b.w./day; 8 weeks	↓ Glucose ↑ Insulin	↑ Splenic white pulp composition ↓ Splenic red pulp composition Spleen: ↓ ROS ↓ NO production ↓ Protein carboxylation ↑ SOD, catalase, glutathione, GPx and GSH activities ↓ TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, MCP-1, ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 ↓ TNF-α and IL-1β ↓ Nuclear NF-κB, COX-2 and iNOS ↑ Cytosolic NF-κB ↓ Caspase-12, calpain-1 and Bax ↑ Bcl-2 and mitochondrial cytochrome c ↓ Phospho-eIF2α, JNK, p38 and p53	[48]
Sprague–Dawley rats	50 mg/kg b.w./day; 28 days	↓ Glucose ↑ Insulin	↓ Islet death Pancreas: ↓ IL-1α, G-CSF, IL-10, IL-17A, IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, IL-4, GM-CSF, IFN-γ, IL-2, IL-5, IL-13 and IL-12p70 ↓ 8-oxo-dG	[49]

↓ Reduced effect; ↑ Increased effect.