Curcumin is an herbal polyphenol extensively investigated for antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and hypolipidaemic properties. In the present review, the efficacy of curcumin for improving a plasma lipid profile has been evaluated and compared with statins, a well-known class of medicines for treating hypercholesterolemia and hyperlipidaemia. Curcumin is presumably most effective in reducing triglyceride (TG), while statins are most efficient in lowering lowdensity lipoproteins-cholesterol (LDL-C). Additionally, various molecular and metabolic mediators of cholesterol and plasma lipid homeostasis are discussed in relation to how they are modulated by curcumin or statins. Overall, curcumin influences the same mediators of plasma lipid alteration as statins do. Almost all the pathways through which cholesterol trafficking takes place are affected by these agents. These include gastrointestinal absorption of dietary cholesterol, hepatocellular removal of plasma cholesterol, the mediators of reverse cholesterol transport, and removal of cholesterol from peripheral tissues. Moreover, the reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging potential of curcumin limits the risk of lipid peroxidation that triggers inflammatory responses causing cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and atherosclerosis. Taken together, curcumin could be used as a safe and well-tolerated adjunct to statins to control hyperlipidaemia more effectively than statins alone.
K E Y W O R D Santi-oxidant, cholesterol, curcumin, lipoproteins, statins, triglycerideCurcumin is a polyphenol extracted from the herbal rhizome powder of Curcuma longa known as turmeric (Goel, Kunnumakkara, & Aggarwal, 2008). It is putatively known as the foremost active ingredient responsible for a range of multifaceted biological properties, for example, antioxidant, anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, cytoprotective, anti-depressant and hypolipidaemic features (Chattopadhyay, Biswas, Bandyopadhyay, & Banerjee, 2004;Esmaily et al., 2015;Panahi et al., 2015;Sahebkar, 2014b). For instance, the inhibitory effects of curcumin on oxidative stress, cancer progression, and inflammation have been well described (Takemoto and Liao, 2001). Furthermore, curcumin has been extensively investigated for its lipid-lowering effects. Given the aforementioned features, curcumin could be utilized as a potential candidate to control hyperlipidaemic-mediated disorders including atherosclerosis. Curcumin has been shown to be as effective in reducing plasma total cholesterol and triglycerides as statins, a well-known class of medicines prescribed for patients with hypercholesterolemia and related atherosclerotic disorders.In the present review, a picture of total lipid metabolism is presented that is affected by curcumin and statins. In this regard, various cellular targets associated with lipid metabolism are discussed. Another study showed that curcumin caused a significant alteration in the serum lipid profile of healthy subjects. The level of TC and HDL-C were decreased and increased, respectively; while the ser...
