Liposmal Turmeric research on efficacy

Efficacy of liposomal curcumin in a human pancreatic tumor xenograft model: inhibition of tumor growth and angiogenesis.
Anticancer Res. 2013 Sep ;33(9):3603-9. PMID: 24023285
Amalendu P Ranjan, Anindita Mukerjee, Lawrence Helson, Rohan Gupta, Jamboor K Vishwanatha
Department of Molecular Biology and Immunology, and Institute for Cancer Research, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth, Texas, 76107, USA. Jamboor.vishwanatha@unthsc.edu.
BACKGROUND: Liposome-based drug delivery has been successful in the past decade, with some formulations being Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved and others in clinical trials around the world. The major disadvantage associated with curcumin, a potent anticancer agent, is its poor aqueous solubility and hence low systemic bioavailability. However, curcumin can be encapsulated into liposomes to improve systemic bioavailability.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: We determined the antitumor effects of a liposomal curcumin formulation against human MiaPaCa pancreatic cancer cells both in vitro and in xenograft studies. Histological sections were isolated from murine xenografts and immunohistochemistry was performed.
RESULTS: The in vitro (IC50) liposomal curcumin proliferation-inhibiting concentration was 17.5μM. In xenograft tumors in nude mice, liposomal curcumin at 20 mg/kg i.p. three-times a week for four weeks induced 42% suppression of tumor growth compared to untreated controls. A potent antiangiogenic effect characterized by a reduced number of blood vessels and reduced expression of vascular endothelial growth factor and annexin A2 proteins, as determined by immunohistochemistry was observed in treated tumors.
CONCLUSION: These data clearly establish the efficacy of liposomal curcumin in reducing human pancreatic cancer growth in the examined model. The therapeutic curcumin-based effects, with no limiting side-effects, suggest that liposomal curcumin may be beneficial in patients with pancreatic cancer.
Robert A DiSilvestro*, Elizabeth Joseph, Shi Zhao and Joshua Bomser
* Corresponding author: Robert A DiSilvestro disilvestro.1@osu.edu
Department of Human Nutrition, The Ohio State University, 345 Campbell Hall, 1787 Neil Ave, Columbus, OH, 43210-1295, USA
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Nutrition Journal 2012, 11:79 doi:10.1186/1475-2891-11-79
Published: 26 September 2012Curcumin extracts of turmeric are proposed to produce health benefits. To date, human intervention studies have focused mainly on people with existing health problems given high doses of poorly absorbed curcumin. The purpose of the current study was to check whether in healthy people, a low dose of a lipidated curcumin extract could alter wellness-related measures.
MethodsThe present study was conducted in healthy middle aged people (40–60 years old) with a low dose of curcumin (80 mg/day) in a lipidated form expected to have good absorption. Subjects were given either curcumin (N = 19) or placebo (N = 19) for 4 wk. Blood and saliva samples were taken before and after the 4 weeks and analyzed for a variety of blood and saliva measures relevant to health promotion.
ResultsCurcumin, but not placebo, produced the following statistically significant changes: lowering of plasma triglyceride values, lowering of salivary amylase levels, raising of salivary radical scavenging capacities, raising of plasma catalase activities, lowering of plasma beta amyloid protein concentrations, lowering of plasma sICAM readings, increased plasma myeloperoxidase without increased c-reactive protein levels, increased plasma nitric oxide, and decreased plasma alanine amino transferase activities.
ConclusionCollectively, these results demonstrate that a low dose of a curcumin-lipid preparation can produce a variety of potentially health promoting effects in healthy middle aged people.
Keywords: Curcumin; Catalase; Nitric oxide; Antioxidant capacity; Antioxidant activity