Number 24
September 1991
Professional Review
NOT FOR PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION. C MEDIHERB 1991
Turmeric — The Spice of Life Part 2
Part 1 of this article in the August issue discussed the anti-
inflammatory effects of Turmeric. Part 2 continues with the
discussion of effects of Turmeric on the digestive tract.
Effect on Gastric Function
Oral doses of 0.5g/kg of an ethanolic extract of turmeric
produced significant protection against ulceration caused
by stress, pyloric ligation, indomethacin and reserpine in
rats.37 Turmeric extract increased gastric wall mucus
production and also enhanced its cytoprotective quality.
Hepatoprotective Action
After finding a protective effect for turmeric extract
against carbon tetrachloride-induced hepatotoxicity in
mice, various constituents of turmeric were found to
have in vitro hepatoprotective activity.38
Antibacterial and Antifungal Activity
An alcoholic extract of turmeric, its essential oil and cur-
cumin weakly inhibited the growth of Gram-positive
bacteria in vitro.39 An interesting recent discovery is that
low concentrations of curcumin are highly toxic to
Salmonella in the presence of visible light.40 This photo-
toxic effect was thought to be due to unstable intermedi-
ates, probably radicals formed during the irradiation.
Since an E coli strain with DNA repair capacity was large-
ly resistant to curcumin phototoxicity, this implies that
light in combination with curcumin is genotoxic and
may be mutagenic.
Cancer Prevention
Turmeric and curcumin possess anti-mutagenic and
anti-promotion activities which are probably related to
the anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of
curcumin. Curcumin showed a dose-dependent decrease
in the in vitro mutagenicities of cayenne extract and cap-
saicin.41 This was comparable to the effect of known anti-
oxidants such as vitamin E. In the presence of liver
homogenate curcumin also inhibited the in vitro muta-
genicity of tobacco smoke condensates, tobacco and
benzo-α-pyrene (BAP) in a dose-dependent manner.42
1
Curcumin and aqueous extract of turmeric protect-
ed against DNA damage in human lymphocytes induced
by fuel smoke condensate.43 However curcumin feeding
did not inhibit BAP-induced nuclear damage to murine
intestinal cells in vivo.44 In contrast, turmeric at 1% in the
diet of mice reduced BAP-induced stomach tumours and
also reduced the incidence of spontaneous mammary
tumours.45
Topically applied curcumin potently inhibited DNA
synthesis and tumour promotion induced by 12-0-
tetradecanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate (TPA) in mouse skin.46
This effect parallels the inhibitory effect of curcumin on
TPA-induced epidermal inflammation and also on epi-
dermal lipoxygenase and cyclooxygenase activities.12 In
other words the inhibitory effect of curcumin on tumour
promotion is related to its anti-inflammatory activity.
Repeated applications of turmeric or curcumin in the
promotion phase produced a significant reduction in
mouse skin papillomas induced by DMBA followed by
croton oil promotion.47 It has been recently demonstrat-
ed that turmeric increases the activity of the carcinogen-
detoxifying enzyme, glutathione-S-transferase in the
stomach, liver and oesophagus of mice.48
Anti-tumour Activity
A turmeric extract prepared with 50% ethanol inhibited
the cell growth of normal mammalian cells and was cyto-
toxic to lymphoma cells at a concentration of
0.4mg/mL.49 The active constituent was found to be cur-
cumin which was cytotoxic to lymphoma cells at a con-
centration of 4µg/mL. Injections of both turmeric extract
and curcumin reduced the development of tumours and
enhanced survival in mice injected with lymphoma cells.49
Earlier work reported that a turmeric extract exhibited
cytotoxicity to mammalian cells in vitro by arresting mito-
sis and altering chromosome morphology.50
A 50% ethanol extract of turmeric and an ointment
containing curcumin produced symptomatic relief in
patients with external cancerous lesions which had failed to
respond to conventional treatments.51 There was a reduc-
tion in the odour of the lesions in 90% of cases and also
reduction in itching and exudation. In a small number of
patients (10%) the thickness of the lesion was reduced.