Curcumin may impair iron status when fed to mice for six months

Abstract

Curcumin has been shown to have many potentially health beneficial properties in vitro and in animal models with clinical studies on the toxicity of curcumin reporting no major side effects. However, curcumin may chelate dietary trace elements and could thus potentially exert adverse effects. Here, we investigated the effects of a 6 month dietary supplementation with 0.2% curcumin on iron, zinc, and copper status in C57BL/6J mice. Compared to non-supplemented control mice, we observed a significant reduction in iron, but not zinc and copper stores, in the liver and the spleen, as well as strongly suppressed liver hepcidin and ferritin expression in the curcumin-supplemented mice. The expression of the iron-importing transport proteins divalent metal transporter 1 and transferrin receptor 1 was induced, while hepatic and splenic inflammatory markers were not affected in the curcumin-fed mice. The mRNA expression of other putative target genes of curcumin, including the nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2 and haem oxygenase 1 did not differ between the groups. Most of the published animal trials with curcumin-feeding have not reported adverse effects on iron status or the spleen. However, it is possible that long-term curcumin supplementation and a Western-type diet may aggravate iron deficiency. Therefore, our findings show that further studies are needed to evaluate the effect of curcumin supplementation on iron status.

Curcumin attenuates erythropoiesis in recombinant human erythropoietin-induced polycythemia in rats

“…In agreement with these results, other studies reported similar results concerning the administration of curcumin [8,9] and administration of EPO. [16] However, to our knowledge, no study reported the effect of combined administration of curcumin and EPO on serum ferritin.…”

“…[20,21] In contrast to the current finding of absence of a significant effect of curcumin treatment on serum hepcidin concentrations, Chin et al found that the expression of hepcidin was significantly reduced in the liver of curcumin-fed mice along with depleted iron stores in the liver and the spleen. [9] The difference in the current study may be attributed to the change of administration method of curcumin (I/P daily injection for 21 days in the current study versus oral administration for 6 months in the mentioned study). In addition, in the current study, rats were fed standard pellet animal diet, whereas in the mentioned study, mice were fed a Western-type diet (20% fat and 10% sugar), and a high-fat diet has been suggested to promote iron deficiency by reducing duodenal iron absorption and by inducing inflammation.…”

“…In addition, in the current study, rats were fed standard pellet animal diet, whereas in the mentioned study, mice were fed a Western-type diet (20% fat and 10% sugar), and a high-fat diet has been suggested to promote iron deficiency by reducing duodenal iron absorption and by inducing inflammation. [9] by the fact that the increased erythropoietic activity induced by EPO required more than the available plasma iron and functional iron deficiency developed. [14] In addition, true iron deficiency may develop during chronic EPO administration due to a progressive shift of iron from body stores to the bone marrow.…”

“…[8] In addition, it was found that the mice that were supplied with curcumin in their diet had a significant reduction in iron store in the liver and the spleen despite sufficient iron intake. [9] Hepcidin, a recently discovered peptide hormone, is produced by hepatocytes and induces internalization and degradation of ferroportin. By inhibiting ferroportin, hepcidin prevents gut cells from allowing iron into the hepatic portal system, thereby reducing the absorption of dietary iron.…”

Benefits of Curcumin Supplementation on Antioxidant Status in β-Thalassemia Major Patients: A Double-Blind Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial

“…According to studies, curcumin has been characterized as a safe herbal compound, in a way that large doses of curcumin administration did not have serious adverse effects [16,17,18,19]. To the best of our knowledge, there is only one published study that investigated the effects of curcumin on the protein profile and oxidative damage in β-thalassemia patients applying proteomic techniques [20].…”