"Curcumin" for Body's Immunity

Abstract

Curcumin" is a traditional Chinese medicine used in China for a long time ago. It possesses a series of biological properties including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, antimicrobial, and antitumor functions to enhance the body's immunity. This article describes the background, research progress of curcumin and its usages such as health supplements or tea daily life.

Full text

International Journal on Infectious Disease and Epidemiology
Volume 3 Issue 2- 2022
Opinion
Author Details
Siukan Law1*, Dawn Chingtung Au1, Albert Wingnang Leung2, Chuanshan Xu3
1Faculty of Science and Technology, The Technological and Higher Education Institute of Hong Kong, Tsing Yi, New Territories, Hong
Kong
2School of Nursing, Tung Wah College, 31 Wylie Road, Ho Man Tin, Kowloon, Hong Kong
3Key Laboratory of Molecular Target and Clinical Pharmacology, State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, School of Pharmaceutical
Sciences & Fifth Affiliated Hospital, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 511436, China
*Corresponding author
Siukan Law, Faculty of Science and Technology, e Technological and Higher Education Institute of Hong Kong, Tsing Yi, New
Territories, Hong Kong
Article History
Received: February 25, 2022 Accepted: February 25, 2022 Published: March 03, 2022
“Curcumin” for Body’s Immunity
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Abstract
“Curcumin” is a traditional Chinese medicine used in China for a long time ago. It possesses a series of biological properties including
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Keywords:
Introduction
Turmeric is a natural herbal and used as a spice in a wide variety
of food. e active ingredient is called “Curcumin”, derived from
a Curcuma longa plant belonging to the Zingiberaceae family. It is
a short-stemmed perennial and grows about 100 cm in height with
curved leaves, oblong, ovate, and cylindrical rhizomes [1]. According
to traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) theory, the nature of curcumin
is warm; bitter, and pungent in taste. is classies as an “invigorating
the blood” category [2], which stimulates blood ow, circulation, and
relieves pain [3].
Research Progress
Growing evidence has shown that curcumin possesses a wide range of
biological activities, such as antioxidant, anti-inammatory, antiviral,
antimicrobial, and antitumor properties (Table 1).
Health Supplement
Apart from the treatment or ight against some diseases of curcumin,
it is also used as a health supplement in daily life to enhance the body’s
immunity. Peterson CT et al. reported the eects of turmeric and
curcumin dietary supplementation on human gut microbiota. e
results have shown that 1000 mg turmeric-treated subjects displayed
the modest 7% which increased as following species: Clostridium spp.,
Bacteroides spp., Citrobacter spp., Cronobacter spp., Enterobacter
spp., Enterococcus spp., Klebsiella spp., Parabacteroides spp., and
Pseudomonas spp., while 1000 mg curcumin displayed an average
increase of 69% to combat these species [9].
Tea
Turmeric tea is one of the popular drinks nowadays since curcumin
has low bioavailability, which is brewed using grated turmeric root or
pure powder to have higher concentrations of biologically available
and promote its absorptivity within the body. ere are some simple
steps for the preparation of turmeric tea:
(i) Take around 400 mL (4 cups) of water and boil it;
(ii) Add 1 g (1 to 2 teaspoons) of turmeric to the boiling water;
(iii) Stir the mixture for 5 to 10 mins continuously until the turmeric
completely dissolve;
(iv) Transfer to tea container and allow it to cool at room temperature.
Based on the JECFA (e Joint United Nations and World Health
Organization Expert Committee on Food Additives) and EFSA
(European Food Safety Authority) reports, the Allowable Daily Intake
(ADI) value of curcumin is 0-3 mg/kg body weight. It is around 1 to 3
grams daily intake for adults [10].

51“Curcumin” for Body’s Immunity
Citation: Int. Jr. Infect Dis & Epidemlgy
Table 1: Biological activities of curcumin for some diseases.
Jakubczyk K et al. [4] Peng Y et al. [5] Jennings MR et al. [6] Adamczak A et al. [7] Walker BC et al. [8]
Objective Antioxidant Potential of
Curcumin
Anti-Inammatory
Eects of Curcumin in the
Inammatory Diseases
Curcumin as an
Antiviral Agent
Curcumin, a Natural
Antimicrobial Agent with
Strain-Specic Activity
Antitumor Activity
of Curcumin in
Glioblastoma
Major
function Antioxidant Anti-inammatory Antiviral Antimicrobial Antitumor
Results
Curcumin signicantly
increase total antioxidant
capacity (TAC) and
tendency to decrease
malondialdehyde (MDA)
concentration
Curcumin regulates NF-
κB, MAPK, AP-1, JAK/
STAT, and other signaling
pathways, and inhibits the
production of inammatory
mediators
Curcumin inhibits
the replication of a
diverse group of viruses
through numerous
mechanisms such as
NF-κB signaling
Curcumin is eective
against some species with
the minimum inhibitory
concentration (MIC) such
asStreptococcus pyogenes,
methicillin-sensitiveS.
aureus,Acinetobacter
lwoi, and individual
strains ofEnterococcus
faecalisandPseudomonas
aeruginosa
Curcumin induces
multiple cytotoxic
eects in tumor cells
including cell cycle
arrest, apoptosis,
autophagy, changes
in gene expression,
and disruption of
molecular signaling
Signicance
Curcumin reduces
MDA concentration
and increases total
antioxidant capacity
Curcumin reduces the
inammatory response,
improve symptoms, and
treatment of diseases
e consumption of
curcumin in high doses
in humans appears to
be safe, in v itro CC50
concentrations are tens
of micromolar
Curcumin is considered
acting an antibacterial agent
with high selectivity.
Curcumin
potentiates the
eect of radiation
on cancer cells and
exhibits a protective
eect on normal
tissue
Diseases
Alzheimer’s and
Parkinson's disease,
atherosclerosis, obesity,
or simply aging
Inammatory bowel
disease, arthritis,
psoriasis, depression, and
atherosclerosis
Human
immunodeciency
virus, zika virus, dengue
virus, chikungunya
virus, vesicular
stomatitis virus,
inuenza A virus, etc
Staphylococcus aureus, S.
haemolyticus, Escherichia
coli, and Proteus mirabilis
Glioblastoma,
malignant gliomas
Conclusion
e above information demonstrates that curcumin can enhance the
body’s immunity through its antioxidant, anti-inammatory, antiviral,
antimicrobial, and antitumor properties with the usage as a health
supplement or tea. However, much more works need to be done for
the future development of curcumin.
References
1. Prasad S, Aggarwal BB (2011) Turmeric, the Golden Spice: From
Traditional Medicine to Modern Medicine.
2. Law S, Lo C, Han J, Leung AW, Xu C (2020) A perspective of traditional
Chinese medicine, curcumin, for the treatment of COVID-19. Aust J
Herb Naturop 32(4): 165-166.
3. Yang J, Miao X, Yang F, Cao J, Liu X, et al. (2021) erapeutic potential
of curcumin indiabetic retinopathy (Review). Int J Mol Med 47(5): 75.
4. Jakubczyk K, Drużga A, Katarzyna J, Skonieczna-Żydecka K (2020)
Antioxidant Potential of Curcumin-A Meta-Analysis of Randomized
Clinical Trials. Antioxidants (Basel) 9(11): 1092.
5. Peng Y, Ao M, Dong B, Jiang Y, Yu L, et al. (2021) Anti-Inammatory
Eects of Curcumin in the Inammatory Diseases: Status, Limitations
and Countermeasures. Drug Des Devel er 15: 4503-4525.
6. Jennings MR, Parks RJ (2020) Curcumin as an Antiviral Agent. Viruses
12(11): 1242.
7. Adamczak A, Ożarowski M, Karpiński TM (2020) Curcumin, a Natural
Antimicrobial Agent with Strain-Specic Activity. Pharmaceuticals
(Basel) 13(7): 153.
8. Walker BC, Mittal S (2020) Antitumor Activity of Curcumin in
Glioblastoma. Int J Mol Sci 21(24): 9435.
9. Peterson CT, Vaughn AR, Sharma V, Chopra D, Mills PJ, et al. (2018)
Eects of Turmeric and Curcumin Dietary Supplementation on Human
Gut Microbiota: A Double-Blind, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled
Pilot Study. J Evid Based Integr Med 23: 2515690X18790725.
10. Kocaadam B, Sanlier N (2017) Curcumin, an active component of
turmeric (Curcuma longa), and its eects on health.Crit Rev Food Sci
Nutr 57: 2889-2895.