Drug Transport and Delivery Research Group, Department of Pharmacy, University of Tromsø, Tromsø N-9037, Norway.
Molecules. 2011 Jun 3;16(6):4567-98. doi: 10.3390/molecules16064567.
Oxidative damage and inflammation have been pointed out in preclinical studies as the root cause of cancer and other chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, Alzheimer's disease, etc. Epidemiological and clinical studies have suggested that cancer could be prevented or significantly reduced by treatment with anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory drugs, therefore, curcumin, a principal component of turmeric (a curry spice) showing strong anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory activities, might be a potential candidate for the prevention and/or treatment of cancer and other chronic diseases. However, curcumin, a highly pleiotropic molecule with an excellent safety profile targeting multiple diseases with strong evidence on the molecular level, could not achieve its optimum therapeutic outcome in past clinical trials, largely due to its low solubility and poor bioavailability. Curcumin can be developed as a therapeutic drug through improvement in formulation properties or delivery systems, enabling its enhanced absorption and cellular uptake. This review mainly focuses on the anti-inflammatory potential of curcumin and recent developments in dosage form and nanoparticulate delivery systems with the possibilities of therapeutic application of curcumin for the prevention and/or treatment of cancer.
氧化损伤和炎症在临床前研究中被指出是癌症和其他慢性疾病（如糖尿病、高血压、阿尔茨海默病等）的根本原因。流行病学和临床研究表明，通过使用抗氧化和抗炎药物治疗，可以预防或显著降低癌症的发生风险。因此，姜黄中的主要成分姜黄素（一种咖喱香料）具有很强的抗氧化和抗炎活性，可能是预防和/或治疗癌症和其他慢性疾病的潜在候选药物。然而，姜黄素是一种具有高度多效性的分子，对多种疾病具有极佳的安全性，并且在分子水平上有很强的证据支持，但其在过去的临床试验中并未达到最佳的治疗效果，这主要是由于其低溶解度和生物利用度差。可以通过改善制剂特性或给药系统来开发姜黄素作为治疗药物，从而提高其吸收和细胞摄取能力。本综述主要关注姜黄素的抗炎潜力，以及剂型和纳米粒给药系统的最新进展，探讨了姜黄素在预防和/或治疗癌症方面的治疗应用的可能性。
