Curcumin: Natural Antimicrobial and Anti Inflammatory Agent

Abstract

The pursuance of novel antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory agents has been expanding due to a significant need for more efficient pharmacotherapy of various infections and chronic diseases. During the last decade, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and pharmacological properties of curcumin have been extensively studied. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the antibacterial activity of curcumin against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria as well as its antifungal activity by using in vitro agar well diffusion assay. Moreover, the anti-inflammatory activity of curcumin was determined with in vitro assay of inhibition of protein denaturation. Results demonstrated wide antimicrobial activity of curcumin upon all of the test bacteria and fungi. The strongest activity of curcumin was observed at a concentration of 0.50 mg/ml against S. aureus, L. monocytogenes, E. coli, P. aeruginosa and C. albicans, resulting in a maximum zone of inhibition of 14.7 mm, 14.3 mm, 13.7 mm, 10.7 mm and 10.7 mm, respectively. Findings suggested that the antimicrobial activity of curcuminis dependent upon the concentrations. Furthermore, results demonstrated high effectiveness of curcumin compared to standard acetylsalicylic acid in inhibiting heat-induced protein denaturation, which activity is also depended upon the concentrations. The present study emphasises the potential application of curcumin as a natural antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory agent. However, findings of this study are restricted to in vitro assays and consideration should be given to conducting a study involving wider dose range test substances as well as including further research on in vivo models.

Antimicrobial photodynamic activity by water-soluble curcumin against foodborne pathogens

“…Despite the variation in biological activity found in the studies above, according to Holetz (2002), all presented a moderate antimicrobial activity of curcumin against S. aureus, while for E. coli, it demonstrated a low active or inactive activity. These findings agree with the literature available that indicated the more effective antimicrobial activity of curcumin on Gram-positive than on Gram-negative bacteria, which could be explained by the difference in the structure of bacterial cell walls (Belma et al, 2021;Bhawana et al, 2011).…”

“…Alippilakkote and Sreejith (2018) tested a curcumin loaded poly (lactic acid) nanocapsule and reported a MIC of 468 µg/mL for S. aureus and 937 µg/mL for E. coli. When investigating the antimicrobial activity of curcumin using inhibition zone measurements, Belma et al (2021) reported the strongest activity of curcumin solutions at a concentration of 500 µg/mL, resulting in an inhibition zone of 14.7 mm against S. aureus and 13.7 mm against E. coli. According to Holetz (2002), the antimicrobial activity of natural compounds was classified into the following groups regarding to the MIC values: i) high antimicrobial activity: MIC < 100 µg/mL; ii) moderate activity: MIC: 100 -500 µg/mL;…”