“Curcumin, the King of Spices”: Epigenetic Regulatory Mechanisms in the Prevention of Cancer, Neurological, and Inflammatory Diseases

Abstract

Curcumin (diferuloylmethane), a polyphenolic compound, is a component of Curcuma longa, commonly known as turmeric. It is a well-known anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidative, and anti-lipidemic agent and has recently been shown to modulate several diseases via epigenetic regulation. Many recent studies have demonstrated the role of epigenetic inactivation of pivotal genes that regulate human pathologies, such as neurocognitive disorders, inflammation, obesity, and cancers. Epigenetic changes involve changes in DNA methylation, histone modifications, or altered microRNA expression patterns which are known to be interconnected and play a key role in tumor progression and failure of conventional chemotherapy. The majority of epigenetic changes are influenced by lifestyle and diets. In this regard, dietary phytochemicals as dietary supplements have emerged as a promising source that are able to reverse these epigenetic alterations, to actively regulate gene expression and molecular targets that are known to promote tumorigenesis, and also to prevent age-related diseases through epigenetic modifications. There have been several studies which reported the role of curcumin as an epigenetic regulator in neurological disorders, inflammation, and in diabetes apart from cancers. The epigenetic regulatory roles of curcumin include (1) inhibition of DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs), which has been well defined from the recent studies on its function as a DNA hypomethylating agent; (2) regulation of histone modifications via regulation of histone acetyltransferases (HATs) and histone deacetylases (HDACs); and (3) regulation of micro RNAs (miRNA). This review summarizes the current knowledge on the effect of curcumin in the treatment and/or prevention of inflammation, neurodegenerative diseases, and cancers by regulating histone deacetylases, histone acetyltransferases, and DNA methyltransferases.

HPLC and HPTLC methods for Simultaneous Estimation of Quercetin and Curcumin in Polyherbal Formulation

“…CMN has a number of activities such as antioxidant, antiinflammatory, antiviral, antibacterial, antifungal and anticancer. CMN has potential in number of diseases such as arthritis, Alzheimer's disease, diabetes and allergies [13][14][15][16] . Quercetin (QCN) is a flavonol, which is a subclass of flavonoids.…”

Natural Compounds: Molecular Weapons against Leukemia’s

“…curcumin is a natural dietary polyphenol with documented antiinflammatory, antioxidant and antineoplastic properties [16]; it is the most commonly used spice in India and in Ayurveda and traditional chinese medicine [17]. Several papers demonstrated that curcumin affects different steps of cancer progression.…”

“…curcumin has been shown to be a strong suppressor of NF-kB that in turn down regulates the expression levels of NF-κB-regulated gene products; it inhibits the activation of IkB kinase (IKK) and, thus, prevents the phosphorylation of IkB and the subsequent translocation of NF-kB to the nucleus [17]. Curcumin also enhances cell death or apoptosis via inhibition of the MAPKs pathway, which includes c-Jun N-terminal kinases (JNKs) and extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERKs) [16]. Moreover, Shah and colleagues indicate that Curcumin, as natural source, is able to overcome drug resistance as well as to reduce cytotoxicity profile of the conventional drug in Acute Myeloid Leukemia patients.…”

Effect of Curcumin on Oxidative Stress in a Model of Turpentine Induced Acute Experimental Inflammation

“…Several studies have shown that Curcumin is eight times more powerful than vitamin E in preventing lipid peroxidation, as marker of oxidative stress (Boyanapalli and Tony Kong, 2015). In addition to its chemotherapeutic activity, Curcumin has also been cited as a potential chemopreventive agent (Hsu and Cheng, 2007).…”