Dietary Curcumin Enhances Antibody Response in Rats

Abstract

The effects of dietary curcumin on three major types of immune function were examined in rats. Antibody (IgG) production, delayed-type hypersensitivity and natural killer cell activity were evaluated after 5 weeks of dietary exposure to 1, 20 or 40 mg/kg curcumin. The highest dose of curcumin significantly enhanced IgG levels. Rats receiving lower dietary concentrations (1 or 20 mg/kg) of curcumin were not different in IgG production from rats receiving no curcumin in their diet. Neither delayed-type hypersensitivity nor natural killer cell activity was different from control values at any dietary concentration of curcumin. In vitro incubation of YAC-1 and EL4 tumor cells and normal splenocytes in varying concentrations of curcumin for varying times revealed differences between cell types in curcumin's effects on cell proliferation and viability. No cytotoxic effect was seen in EL4 cells at 125 micrograms/ml curcumin at 4, 24 and 48 hrs incubations, however, cell proliferation was reduced by almost 50% at 24 hrs. YAC-1 cell viability and cell numbers were diminished at longer incubations. A lower curcumin concentration (1.25 micrograms/ml) enhanced cell growth in the YAC-1 cells at 24 and 48 hr. This enhancement was not seen in spleen or EL4 cells.

Evaluation of Efficacy of Curcumin as an Add-on therapy in Patients of Bronchial Asthma

“…The highest doses of curcumin, significantly enhanced IgG levels. Neither delayedtype hypersensitivity nor natural killer cell activity was different from control values at any dietary concentration of curcumin [14]. Another significant study by Ram A et al, studied the effect of curcumin on airway hyperresponsiveness in sensitized guinea pigs and demonstrated by a constant volume body plethysmograph that curcumin significantly inhibited ovalbumin-induced airway constriction and airway hyperreactivity in guinea pigs [15].…”

Effect of turmeric powder on performance, carcass traits, humoral immune responses, and serum metabolites in broiler chickens

“…Turmeric powder supplementation levels in the present experiment may not be optimal for enhancing immune responses in chickens. For instance, studies by South et al (1997) on rats showed that curcumin at a dose of 10 and 20 mg/kg body weight could not enhance the IgG levels in the NK cells, whereas a higher dose (40 mg/kg) did elevate IgG levels significantly. More importantly, none of the three doses of curcumin significantly enhanced either delayed-type hypersensitivity or NK cell activity.…”

Curcumin: From ancient medicine to current clinical trials

“…Curcumin exerts a number of effects at sites distal from the gastrointestinal tract at doses less than or equivalent to the 12 g/day maximum dose administered in Phase I human clinical trials (to enable rough comparisons, we calculate that 12 g/day is approximately equivalent to 2 % curcumin when administered in the diet (12 g/500 g diet); when administered by weight, it is approximately equivalent to 200 mg/kg body weight). For example, immunomodulatory effects of curcumin (e.g., release of ROS [13] and eicosinoids [209] from peritoneal macrophages, antibody response) were observed following treatment with 40 mg/kg curcumin in the diet [210] or by 30 mg/ kg introduced by gavage [13,209]. Dietary curcumin at 160 ppm also lowered oxidized proteins and IL-1b in the brains of a transgenic mouse model of Alzheimers disease [211].…”