Miriyala Sumitra, Panchatcharam Manikandan, Rengarajulu Puvanakrishnan
Department of Medicine, Carolina Cardiovascular Biology Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill 27599, USA.
Adv Exp Med Biol. 2007;595:359-77. doi: 10.1007/978-0-387-46401-5_16.
Curcumin, a major active component of turmeric, is extracted from the powdered dry rhizome of Curcuma longa Linn (Zingiberaceae) and it has been used for centuries in indigenous medicine. We have shown that curcumin has a protective role against myocardial necrosis in rats. The antioxidant activity of curcumin could be attributed to the phenolic and methoxy groups in conjunction with the 1,3-diketone-conjugated diene system, for scavenging of the oxygen radicals. In addition, curcumin is shown to enhance the activities of detoxifying enzymes such as glutathione-S-transferase in vivo. We have also shown that oxygen free radicals exacerbate cardiac damage and curcumin induces cardioprotective effect and it also inhibits free-radical generation in myocardial ischemia in rats. This chapter on the cardioprotective effects of curcumin covers the following aspects: (1) the history of curcumin and its discovery as a potent drug with relevance to cardiovascular diseases; (2) mechanistic role of curcumin in vitro, emphasizing the antiplatelet and anticoagulant effects; (3) cardiovascular properties of curcumin; (4) application of curcumin in different animal models (viz. myocardial ischemia, myocardial infarction, cardiomyopathy, and arrhythmia in vitro and in vivo); (5) curcumin free-radical scavenging activity, particularly against O2 radical and depletion of the oxidative stress.
姜黄素是姜黄的主要活性成分，从姜黄属植物姜黄（姜科）的干燥根茎粉末中提取，在传统医学中已使用了数百年。我们已经证明姜黄素对大鼠心肌坏死具有保护作用。姜黄素的抗氧化活性可归因于酚羟基和甲氧基与1,3 - 二酮共轭二烯系统共同作用，以清除氧自由基。此外，姜黄素在体内可增强解毒酶如谷胱甘肽 - S - 转移酶的活性。我们还表明氧自由基会加剧心脏损伤，而姜黄素具有心脏保护作用，并且还能抑制大鼠心肌缺血时自由基的产生。本章关于姜黄素的心脏保护作用涵盖以下几个方面：（1）姜黄素的历史及其作为与心血管疾病相关的有效药物的发现；（2）姜黄素在体外的作用机制，重点是抗血小板和抗凝作用；（3）姜黄素的心血管特性；（4）姜黄素在不同动物模型（即体外和体内的心肌缺血、心肌梗死、心肌病和心律失常）中的应用；（5）姜黄素的自由基清除活性，特别是对O2自由基的清除和氧化应激的消除。
