Curcumin ingestion and exercise training improve vascular endothelial function in postmenopausal women

Abstract

Vascular endothelial function is declines with aging and is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Lifestyle modification, particularly aerobic exercise and dietary adjustment, has a favorable effect on vascular aging. Curcumin is a major component of turmeric with known anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative effects. We investigated the effects of curcumin ingestion and aerobic exercise training on flow-mediated dilation as an indicator endothelial function in postmenopausal women. A total of 32 postmenopausal women were assigned to 3 groups: control, exercise, and curcumin groups. The curcumin group ingested curcumin orally for 8 weeks. The exercise group underwent moderate aerobic exercise training for 8 weeks. Before and after each intervention, flow-mediated dilation was measured. No difference in baseline flow-mediated dilation or other key dependent variables were detected among the groups. Flow-mediated dilation increased significantly and equally in the curcumin and exercise groups, whereas no changes were observed in the control group. Our results indicated that curcumin ingestion and aerobic exercise training can increase flow-mediated dilation in postmenopausal women, suggesting that both can potentially improve the age-related decline in endothelial function.

Colloidal Submicron-Particle Curcumin Exhibits High Absorption Efficiency—A Double-Blind, 3-Way Crossover Study—

“…Some clinical studies showed that BCM-95 had beneficial effects on patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) (40) and oral submucous fi brosis (OSMF) (41). Theracurmin was reported to be able to potentially improve the age-related decline in endothelial function (26) and systolic blood pressure (27) in postmenopausal women. These studies showed not only the effi cacy but also the long-term safety of these DDS curcumin formulations in humans.…”

“…The total curcumin content in each preparation was considered to be approximately equal without breaking the capsules. Theracurmin was reported to be used at 100-400 mg in patients with cancer or healthy elderly volunteers for chronic treatment in clinical studies, indicating that at least 400 mg of Theracurmin was safe (24)(25)(26)(27). Moreover, more than 10 phase 2 clinical trials are now ongoing using 180 mg of Theracurmin, and no signifi cant adverse effect has been reported so far.…”

“…This is because there is a possibility of the degradation of curcumin itself and disintegration of its micelles due to instability caused by destroying preparations in an attempt to standardize the amount. The dosage of each curcumin preparation was determined based on recommended amounts for commercial use and clinical studies (17,21,(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29). The clinical benefi ts were obtained at these doses.…”

“…Nine subjects were enrolled in this study; the cohort included 5 males (56%), the cohort included 5 males and 4 females, with a mean age of 25 (24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32) Fig. 1.…”

Curcumin β-D-Glucuronide Plays an Important Role to Keep High Levels of Free-Form Curcumin in the Blood

“…26) Furthermore, the promising efficacy of curcumin has been demonstrated across a variety of medical fields, in preclinical studies and in human clinical trials, using the highly bioavailable formulation of curcumin, Theracurmin ® . [27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36] In general, once they are absorbed into the body, polyphenols are mainly conjugated with glucuronic acid or sulfuric acid in the liver, with some excreted into the duodenum with bile, and some released into the blood. It is thought that the metabolites excreted into the duodenum could be hydrolyzed back to the original compound by hydrolases including β-glucuronidase, and then reabsorbed through the intestinal tract, and returned to the liver through the portal vein via enterohepatic circulation.…”