Curcumin: Therapeutical Potential in Ophthalmology

Abstract

Curcumin (diferuloylmethane) is the main curcuminoid of the popular Indian spice turmeric (Curcuma longa). In the last 50 years, in vitro and in vivo experiments supported the main role of polyphenols and curcumin for the prevention and treatment of many different inflammatory diseases and tumors. The anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antitumor properties of curcumin are due to different cellular mechanisms: this compound, in fact, produces different responses in different cell types. Unfortunately, because of its low solubility and oral bioavailability, the biomedical potential of curcumin is not easy to exploit; for this reason more attention has been given to nanoparticles and liposomes, which are able to improve curcumin ʼs bioavailability. Pharmacologically, curcumin does not show any dose-limiting toxicity when it is administered at doses of up to 8 g/day for three months. It has been demonstrated that curcumin has beneficial effects on several ocular diseases, such as chronic anterior uveitis, diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration, and dry eye syndrome. The purpose of this review is to report what has so far been elucidated about curcumin properties and its potential use in ophthalmology

Dietary Compound Chrysin Inhibits Retinal Neovascularization with Abnormal Capillaries in db/db Mice

“…Natural products may serve as nutraceutical therapeutic interventions and as lead compounds for the specific, efficacious, and affordable drugs with minimal side effects in the eye and its related disorders [25]. Evidence suggests that curcumin and resveratrol may have potential in the treatment of several ocular diseases [39,40]. Scutellarin inhibits retinal angiogenesis through disturbing ROS/HIF-1α/VEGF pathway [27].…”

Curcumin Inhibits Neuronal Loss in the Retina and Elevates Ca2+/Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinase II Activity in Diabetic Rats

“…[16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30]33,34,39 In this study, we partially elucidated the molecular mechanisms of cell apoptosis in diabetes-induced rats and demonstrated that curcumin was excellent for treatment. We found that neuronal loss occurred in the retinas of diabetic rats.…”

“…However, researchers have not yet been able to elucidate the mechanisms by which curcumin prevents the progression of diabetic retinopathy. [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35] Although many studies have reported that curcumin rescues retinal neuronal cell cultures from glutamate toxicity, 36,37 researchers have not been able to determine how curcumin treatment ameliorates the diabetes-induced damage to retinal Department of Ophthalmology, Lishui Central Hospital and Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Lishui, Zhejiang Province, People's Republic of China. *These two authors contributed equally to the work and therefore should be considered equivalent authors.…”

Reflections about osteoarthritis and Curcuma longa

“…[71819] The curcumin is a natural polyphenolic compound of low toxicity and is considered the main compound of the rhizome. [202122] Thanks to its different pharmacological actions, curcumin and its analogs have been employed in different studies involving several pathologies such as cardiovascular and ophthalmic diseases, diabetes, depression, HIV, vitiligo, Alzheimer’s disease, endometriosis, osteoporosis, inflammatory bowel disease, epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, and cancer [Figure 1]. [8910212324252627282930]…”