The effect of turmeric (Curcumin) supplementation on cytokine and inflammatory marker responses following 2 hours of endurance cycling

Abstract

BackgroundEndurance exercise induces IL-6 production from myocytes that is thought to impair intracellular defence mechanisms. Curcumin inhibits NF-κB and activator protein 1, responsible for cytokine transcription, in cell lines. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of curcumin supplementation on the cytokine and stress responses following 2 h of cycling.MethodsEleven male recreational athletes (35.5 ± 5.7 years; Wmax 275 ± 6 W; 87.2 ± 10.3 kg) consuming a low carbohydrate diet of 2.3 ± 0.2 g/kg/day underwent three double blind trials with curcumin supplementation, placebo supplementation, and no supplementation (control) to observe the response of serum interleukins (IL-6, IL1-RA, IL-10), cortisol, c-reactive protein (CRP), and subjective assessment of training stress. Exercise was set at 95% lactate threshold (54 ± 7% Wmax) to ensure that all athletes completed the trial protocol.ResultsThe trial protocol elicted a rise in IL-6 and IL1-RA, but not IL-10. The supplementation regimen failed to produce statistically significant results when compared to placebo and control. IL-6 serum concentrations one hour following exercise were (Median (IQR): 2.0 (1.8-3.6) Curcumin; 4.8 (2.1-7.3) Placebo; 3.5 (1.9-7.7) Control). Differences between supplementation and placebo failed to reach statistical significance (p = 0.18) with the median test. Repeated measures ANOVA time-trial interaction was at p = 0.06 between curcumin supplementation and placebo. A positive correlation (p = 0.02) between absolute exercise intensity and 1 h post-exercise for IL-6 concentration was observed. Participants reported “better than usual” scores in the subjective assessment of psychological stress when supplementing with curcumin, indicating that they felt less stressed during training days (p = 0.04) compared to placebo even though there was no difference in RPE during any of the training days or trials.ConclusionThe limitations of the current regimen and trial involved a number of factors including sample size, mode of exercise, intensity of exercise, and dose of curcumin. Nevertheless these results provide insight for future studies with larger samples, and multiple curcumin dosages to investigate if different curcumin regimens can lead to statistically different interleukin levels when compared to a control and placebo.

Circulating Inflammatory Cytokine Responses to Endurance Exercise in Female Rowers

“…The present investigation demonstrated that a 1-h rowing ergometer exercise with an average EE of 639 ± 69 kcal caused significant post-exercise increases in IL-6, IL-8, VEGF and MCP-1 concentrations, whereas the mean concentrations of 8 out of 12 inflammatory biomarkers were not changed (P > 0.05) immediately after the endurance rowing session in college-level female rowers. Therefore, the magnitude of increase in IL-6 (ES = 0.64) and IL-8 (ES = 0.64) appeared to be moderate but similar to previous studies in athletes after acute endurance exercise [34,41]. The largest increases in IL-6 and IL-8 concentrations have been observed after prolonged severe exercise like marathon running [28,42].…”

Modulation of Exercise-Induced Muscle Damage, Inflammation, and Oxidative Markers by Curcumin Supplementation in a Physically Active Population: A Systematic Review

“…EIMD leads to the onset of an inflammatory response that is associated with a decrease in the ability to generate muscle strength, decreased range of motion (ROM), localized swelling, delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS), and increased muscle proteins in the blood (creatine kinase (CK), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and myoglobin (Mb)) [3]. In addition, EIMD triggers inflammatory responses that result in elevations of inflammation markers such as C-reactive protein (CRP) and some inflammatory interleukins (IL-1, IL-6, tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α)) [4]. Similarly, it promotes the production of transcription factors such as nuclear factor kB (NF kB) through the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) [5].…”

Curcumin Supplementation and Its Effect on Recovery Process Following Peripheral Fatigue

“…In addition, curcumin is also widely used in sport and exercise physiology fields [11,12]. Some of the curcumin's potentials are as an anti-fatigue and recovery booster substance [13][14][15][16][17][18][19]. The term of fatigue that's explained before is a fatigue caused by workload or exercise and related to human physiological functions/physiological fatigue [20].…”

“…As the definition of fatigue described above, some studies related to curcumin as an anti-fatigue and recovery booster are divided into two groups. Several studies [13][14][15][16][17][18][19] examined the effect of curcumin related to central fatigue. The study concluded that curcumin can significantly reduce central fatigue indicators such as IL-6 and IL-1.…”

“…While the study of peripheral fatigue in animal model [19] examined the effect of curcumin on lactate, which is one of the peripheral fatigue indicators and also on exercise performance. Some previous studies related to the effect of curcumin as anti-fatigue and recovery booster are still carried out in the acute study model [13][14][15][16]18]. There are very few studies that use curcumin in the form of the chronic study, especially in relation to anti-fatigue and recovery booster [17].…”