A randomized controlled trial on the anti-inflammatory effects of curcumin in patients with chronic sulphur mustard-induced cutaneous complications

Abstract

Background: Chronic cutaneous complications such as pruritus are among the very frequent complaints of sulphur mustard (SM)-exposed patients. The present trial investigated the impact of curcumin on serum inflammatory biomarkers and their association with pruritus severity and quality of life (QoL). Methods: This was a randomized, double-blind trial among 96 male Iranian veterans (age 37-59 y) who were suffering from chronic SM-induced pruritic skin lesions. Patients were randomly assigned to curcumin (1 g/d, n ¼ 46) or placebo (n ¼ 50) for four weeks. Serum concentrations of interleukins 6 (IL-6) and 8 (IL-8) together with high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) were measured at baseline and at the end of the trial. Assessment of pruritus severity was performed using the pruritus score and QoL using the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI). Results: Serum IL-8 and hs-CRP were significantly reduced in both groups but the magnitude of reduction was greater in the curcumin group (P , 0.001). Serum CGRP was only decreased in the curcumin group (P , 0.001). No significant change was observed in serum IL-6. There were significant correlations between CGRP and IL-6 changes (P ¼ 0.011) and between DLQI and IL-8 changes (P ¼ 0.026) in the curcumin group. In the curcumin group, changes in serum IL-8 concentrations were found as the significant predictor of DLQI scores (P ¼ 0.026) but none of the independent variables could predict pruritus scores. Conclusions: Curcumin supplementation effectively mitigates inflammation in patients suffering from chronic SM-induced cutaneous complications. This anti-inflammatory effect might account for the observed pruritus alleviation and QoL improvement by this phytochemical.

New Perspectives of Curcumin in Cancer Prevention

“…In a recent pilot study, IKKβ kinase activity and the levels of proinflammatory cytokine IL-8 in the saliva of SCCHN patients were measured and the results suggested that IKKβ kinase activity could be used to detect the effect of curcumin treatment in SCCHN (70). In a double blind randomized trial, curcumin was found to significantly decrease the levels of serum calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) as compared to placebo (71). There were also significant decreases in serum IL-8 and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) in both curcumin and placebo group with a higher magnitude in the curcumin group.…”

Investigation of the Effects of Curcumin on Serum Cytokines in Obese Individuals: A Randomized Controlled Trial

“…In a recent study on the same subjects as used in the present trial, we were able to detect a significant reduction in the prooxidant-antioxidant balance index following curcumin therapy, indicating amelioration of systemic oxidative stress burden by this phytochemical [17]. Aside from ROS, curcumin can favorably affect the expression and/or activity of several components of the oxidant-antioxidant system including nitric oxide synthase [39], heme oxygenase 1 [40], glutathione peroxidase (60) and [41], superoxide dismutase [41, 42], catalase [41, 42], free fatty acids [43], paraoxonase [43], and glutathione reductase. Finally, interesting evidence exists as to the modulating effects of curcumin on adipokines, which are important drivers of metabolism and severely dysregulated in obesity [17].…”

Adjunctive Therapy with Curcumin for Peptic Ulcer: a Randomized Controlled Trial

“…alcoholic fatty liver disease [17,18], atherosclerosis [19,20], chronic complications due to sulfur mustard intoxication [21][22][23][24], solid tumors [25], colorectal cancer [26] and inflammation [27,28]. Several in vitro and animal studies have revealed the inhibitory effect of curcumin on H. pylori [29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37], however clinical studies evaluating the efficacy of curcumin supplementation in PU have been scarce.…”