A review on the effects of Turmeric on Inflammation

Purpose

The Center for Human Immunology, Autoimmunity, and Inflammation aims to review the

latest research on turmeric’s nutraceutical agent, curcumin, and its effects on inflammation.

Introduction

Older individuals are more likely to suffer from various types of inflammation, such as,

asthma, tuberculosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and so forth. If inflammation is not treated

immediately, it can progress into a chronic stage. Chronic inflammation is associated with

suppression in the immune system, which is often correlated with an increase of illness and

death. Currently, pharmaceutical drugs are becoming costly and have been associated with a

variety of serious side effects like kidney failure, high blood pressure, and an aggravated

immune system. Thus, it is necessary that natural remedies are accessible to the general

public. The Indian spice turmeric has recently shown to be a potential therapeutic treatment.

There have been numerous accounts of turmeric displaying anti-inflammatory properties.

Therefore, this review aims to inform the general public on the effects of turmeric on

inflammation.

Annotated Bibliography

Reuter, S., Gupta, S. C., Park, B., Goel, A., & Aggarwal, B. B. (2011). Epigenetic changes

induced by curcumin and other natural compounds. Genes & Nutrition, 6(2), 93–108.

http://doi.org/10.1007/s12263-011-0222-1

- Turmeric’s nutraceutical agent, curcumin, has been correlated with epigenetic regulation.

These epigenetic changes are what make curcumin an effective strategy for treatments

in preventing cancer.

- This source serves as the “how” and “why” there are anti-inflammatory and anti-

cancer properties associated with turmeric. In order to support our claims that
 turmeric has these functions, this source might help us to provide a better

understanding of why turmeric is a great therapeutic treatment. To provide a

basic background on the cell and molecular aspects of curcumin we can use this

paper to create a section only on epigenetics. This paper also coincides with

Aggarwal et al. (2010) on antioxidant peptides displaying anti-inflammatory and

anti-cancer properties which are on the many examples of epigenetic regulation.

Aggarwal, B. B., Yuan, W., Li, S. and Gupta, S. C. (2013). Curcumin-free turmeric exhibits anti-

inflammatory and anticancer activities: Identification of novel components of turmeric. Mol. Nutr.

Food Res., 57: 1529–1542. doi:10.1002/mnfr.201200838

- Other compounds found in turmeric have been found to display anti-inflammatory and

anti-cancer activities. These also include the antioxidant peptide, turmerin and curcumin-

free turmeric.

- This review highlights a majority of the other compounds found in the turmeric

herbaceous perennial flowering plant, which also display anti-inflammatory and

cancer properties like curcumin. This source can be used to find a more in-depth

review of the biological mechanisms associated with curcumin, which will be

useful when explaining how these mechanisms have a synergistic effect on

preventing inflammation and cancer. Given that, Uddin et al. (2005) and Moon et

al. (2010) are examples of curcumin’s anti-cancer properties, this paper can

serve as additional support.

Uddin, S., Hussain, A. R., Manogaran, P. S., Al-Hussein, K., Platanias, L. C., Gutierrez, M. I., &

Bhatia, K. G. (2005). Curcumin suppresses growth and induces apoptosis in primary effusion

lymphoma. Oncogene, 24(47), 7022.

 - Researchers sought to block the proliferation in primary effusion lymphoma (PEL) via a

dose dependent manner. Results found curcumin was able to induce apoptosis and

prevent the proliferation of PEL.

- This source will serve as a supplemental material to our cancer section (body of

our review). The data obtained from this study will elucidate the research on

curcumin’s anti-cancer effects. In addition, this source has references that will

allow us to back track to support our claims. This paper also correlates with into

Moon et al. (2010) in that curcumin can be ubiquitously used with other types of

cancers and/or inflammatory diseases.

Moon, D. O., Kim, M. O., Choi, Y. H., Park, Y. M., & Kim, G. Y. (2010). Curcumin attenuates

inflammatory response in IL-1β-induced human synovial fibroblasts and collagen-induced

arthritis in mouse model. International immunopharmacology, 10(5), 605-610.

- This study evaluated curcumin on collagen-induced arthritis in mice and fibroblast-like

synoviocytes. Results found that curcumin suppresses markers of inflammation and

other innate immune responses.

- My team can use this source to find other markers associated with inflammation.

This source is another supporting factor to our review on curcumin’s ability to

display anti-inflammatory effects. This paper fits perfectly in the body of our

paper, specifically the cancer section along with Uddin et al. (2005)’s paper on

curcumin and PEL. Not to mention, this study also leads us down a path towards

antioxidant activity found within turmeric, which adds to our growing knowledge

of how great turmeric is!

References
Aggarwal, B. B., Yuan, W., Li, S. and Gupta, S. C. (2013), Curcumin-free turmeric exhibits anti-
inflammatory and anticancer activities: Identification of novel components of turmeric.
Mol. Nutr. Food Res., 57: 1529–1542. doi:10.1002/mnfr.201200838
Moon, D. O., Kim, M. O., Choi, Y. H., Park, Y. M., & Kim, G. Y. (2010). Curcumin attenuates
inflammatory response in IL-1β-induced human synovial fibroblasts and collagen-
induced arthritis in mouse model. International immunopharmacology, 10(5), 605-610.

Reuter, S., Gupta, S. C., Park, B., Goel, A., & Aggarwal, B. B. (2011). Epigenetic changes
induced by curcumin and other natural compounds. Genes & Nutrition, 6(2), 93–108.
http://doi.org/10.1007/s12263-011-0222-1

Uddin, S., Hussain, A. R., Manogaran, P. S., Al-Hussein, K., Platanias, L. C., Gutierrez, M. I., &
Bhatia, K. G. (2005). Curcumin suppresses growth and induces apoptosis in primary
effusion lymphoma. Oncogene, 24(47), 7022.