TY - JOUR
T1 - Bioavailability of curcumin
T2 - Problems and promises
AU - Anand, Preetha
AU - Kunnumakkara, Ajaikomar B.
AU - Newman, Robert A.
AU - Aggarwal, Bharat B.
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support of Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).
PY - 2007/11
Y1 - 2007/11
N2 - Curcumin, a polyphenolic compound derived from dietary spice turmeric, possesses diverse pharmacologic effects including anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antiproliferative and antiangiogenic activities. Phase I clinical trials have shown that curcumin is safe even at high doses (12 g/day) in humans but exhibit poor bioavailability. Major reasons contributing to the low plasma and tissue levels of curcumin appear to be due to poor absorption, rapid metabolism, and rapid systemic elimination. To improve the bioavailability of curcumin, numerous approaches have been undertaken. These approaches involve, first, the use of adjuvant like pipeline that interferes with glucuronidation; second, the use of liposomal curcumin; third, curcumin nanoparticles; fourth, the use of curcumin phospholipid complex; and fifth, the use of structural analogues of curcumin (e.g., EF-24). The latter has been reported to have a rapid absorption with a peak plasma half-life. Despite the lower bioavailability, therapeutic efficacy of curcumin against various human diseases, including cancer, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, arthritis, neurological diseases and Crohn's disease, has been documented. Enhanced bioavailability of curcumin in the near future is likely to bring this promising natural product to the forefront of therapeutic agents for treatment of human disease.
AB - Curcumin, a polyphenolic compound derived from dietary spice turmeric, possesses diverse pharmacologic effects including anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antiproliferative and antiangiogenic activities. Phase I clinical trials have shown that curcumin is safe even at high doses (12 g/day) in humans but exhibit poor bioavailability. Major reasons contributing to the low plasma and tissue levels of curcumin appear to be due to poor absorption, rapid metabolism, and rapid systemic elimination. To improve the bioavailability of curcumin, numerous approaches have been undertaken. These approaches involve, first, the use of adjuvant like pipeline that interferes with glucuronidation; second, the use of liposomal curcumin; third, curcumin nanoparticles; fourth, the use of curcumin phospholipid complex; and fifth, the use of structural analogues of curcumin (e.g., EF-24). The latter has been reported to have a rapid absorption with a peak plasma half-life. Despite the lower bioavailability, therapeutic efficacy of curcumin against various human diseases, including cancer, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, arthritis, neurological diseases and Crohn's disease, has been documented. Enhanced bioavailability of curcumin in the near future is likely to bring this promising natural product to the forefront of therapeutic agents for treatment of human disease.
KW - Absorption
KW - Adjuvants
KW - Bioavailability
KW - Biocurcumax
KW - Curcumin
KW - Formulations
KW - Metabolism
KW - Nanoparticles
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U2 - 10.1021/mp700113r
DO - 10.1021/mp700113r
M3 - Review article
C2 - 17999464
AN - SCOPUS:37549051274
SN - 1543-8384
VL - 4
SP - 807
EP - 818
JO - Molecular Pharmaceutics
JF - Molecular Pharmaceutics
IS - 6
ER -