Table 4.

Summary of absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination of curcumin.

Model	Dose/Concentration	Main Finding	Ref
Absorption
Caco-2 permeability assay	20 μg/mL	Permeation rate 7.1 × 10−6 cm/s	(Yu and Huang, 2011) [168]
Caco-2 permeability assay	20 μg/mL	Permeation rate 8.4 × 10−6 cm/s	(Yu and Huang, 2012) [167]
Reverted rat gut sacs	100 μg/mL	Amount of curcumin in the serosal fluid of the jejunum > duodenum and ileum	(Y.-M. Tsai et al., 2012) [178]
		comparable amount of curcumin in sac tissue of duodenum, jejunum, and ileum
Caco-2 permeability assay	30 μg/mL	Permeability coefficient 5.14 × 10−8 cm/s	(J. Wang et al., 2015) [166]
In vivo biodistribtion in rats	70 mg/kg	Curcumin was absorbed through intestinal segments, including the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum
In situ single-pass intestinal perfusion test (SPIP)	5 µg/mL curcumin	Permeability coefficient of curcumin in duodenum > jejunum and ileum	(H. Ji et al., 2016) [164]
Rat intestinal perfusion study	40 μg/mL curcumin	Absorption rate and effective permeability of curcumin in the duodenum > jejunum and ileum	(Tian, Asghar, Wu, Chen et al., 2017) [165]
Distribution
Male albino rats	400 mg curcumin	Portal blood, stomach, intestine, liver, and kidney	(Ravindranath and Chandrasekhara, 1980) [179]
Female BALB/c mice	100 mg/kg body weight, i.p	Plasma, liver, kidneys, spleen, brain, and intestines 1 h after i.p. administration	(Pan, Huang, and Lin 1999) [171]
Male Wistar albino rats	340 mg/kg	Intestinal mucosa, liver, kidney, and heart	(Marczylo, Steward, and Gescher 2009) [174]
Male ICR mice	20 and 400 mg/kg. p.o.	Plasma and central nervous system (brain and spinal cord)	(Szymusiak et al., 2016) [87]
Metabolism (metabolites)
In vitro: hepatocytes or liver microsomes	0.1–5 μg/mL	60%–90% of curcumin was metabolized within 30 min	(Wahlström and Blennow 1978) [176]
In vitro hepatocytes	100 μM	Hexahydrocurcumin and hexahydrocurcuminol	(Ireson et al., 2001) [172]
Male Sprague–Dawley rats	0.6–12 mg, i.v	glucuronides of tetrahydrocurcumin and Hexahydrocurcumin, dihydroferulic acid, and ferulic acid	(Holder, Plummer, and Ryan 1978) [173]
Female BALB/c mice	100 mg/kg body weight, i.p	Curcumin-glucuronoside, dihydrocurcumin-glucuronoside, tetrahydrocurcumin-glucuronoside, and tetrahydrocurcumin	(Pan, Huang, and Lin 1999) [171]
Female F344 rats	500 mg/kg, p.o and 40 mg/kg, i.v.	Major: curcumin glucuronide and curcumin sulfate minor: hexahydrocurcumin, hexahydrocurcuminol, hexahydrocurcumin glucuronide	(Ireson et al., 2001) [172]
Male Wistar albino rats	340 mg/kg, p.o.	Phenolic glucuronides and alcoholic glucuronides (plasma and urine)	(Marczylo, Steward, and Gescher 2009) [174]
Human	Curcuminoids, 3.6 g/d for 29 days, p.o	Curcumin glucuronide and curcumin sulfate (plasma and urine)	(R.A. Sharma et al., 2004) [177]
Elimination
Sprague–Dawley rats	1 g/kg	75% of curcumin excreted in the feces, the undetectable amount in urine	(Wahlström and Blennow 1978) [176]
Sprague–Dawley rats	0.6 mg/dose	-[3H]-curcumin metabolites—89.4% (feces) 6.3% (urine)	(Holder, Plummer, and Ryan 1978) [173]
		High extent of biliary excretion of curcumin
Male Wistar albino rats	340 mg/kg, p.o.	2.0 ng/mL of curcumin (urine)	(Marczylo, Steward, and Gescher 2009) [174]
Human	Curcumuminoids, 3.6 g/d for 29 days, p.o	Curcumin and its metabolites (urine and feces)	(R.A. Sharma et al., 2004) [177]