There are few natural health supplements whose reputation for overall health and effectiveness matches that of curcumin, the principle polyphenol found in the Indian spice turmeric. It has even been dubbed “curecumin” by certain scientists and all but revered as a panacea by many in the preventative health community. It is one of the most effective anti-inflammatories in the natural world, and its list of heath-enhancing properties is growing as scientists probe continuously deeper into its pharmacological mechanism(s) of action.
At least one of those mechanisms of action has been identified by scientists as being responsible for inhibiting and even reversing a condition known as cardiomegaly (an enlarged heart), which is caused by excessive cardiac stress. An enlarged heart significantly increases one’s chances of heart failure. In a recent Canadian study with laboratory mice, researchers at the Institute of Circulatory and Respiratory Health have found that curcumin prevents the abnormal unraveling of the particular chromosome under stress that leads to cardiomegaly, in addition to preventing excessive abnormal protein production. It specifically does this by disrupting the activities of the enzyme p300-histone acetyltransferase (HAT), which in turn is responsible for the transcription factors that can lead to cardiomegaly. This led Dr. Peter Liu, lead researcher and Scientific Director of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) to state: "Curcumin's ability to shut off one of the major switches right at the chromosome source where the enlargement and scarring genes are being turned on is impressive,". Yet he also added: "the beneficial effects of curcumin are not strengthened by eating more of it."
The latter portion of Dr. Liu’s statement is especially relevant in light of the fact that the main dietary source for curcumin, namely curries, can be heavily laden with saturated fats and refined carbohydrates, particularly in their western incarnation. This has led experts to suggest that curcumin supplements are the most effective strategy for taking advantage of curcumin’s myriad of health benefits without incurring any dietary risks.
In another study published in the same journal, Japanese scientists at the National Hospital Organization in Kyoto reinforced the findings of their Canadian counterparts by examining curcumin’s effects on two (laboratory rat) models of heart failure: high blood pressure-associated heart disease and myocardial infarction. In both instances, curcumin prevented increases in heart muscle wall thickness after heart failure. Like the Canadian study, the Japanese research team also determined that curcumin’s inhibition of p300-histone acetyltransferase (HAT) activity was a primary factor in achieving these results.
Dr. T. Morimoto, lead researcher for the study, wrote: "We believe that the use of curcumin, which targets nuclear signaling pathways in cardiomyocytes, will provide a novel therapeutic strategy against heart failure," and "Future application of this nontoxic dietary natural compound as a therapeutic agent for heart failure in humans would be particularly interesting."
Sources:
Li HL, et al. "Curcumin prevents and reverses murine cardiac hypertrophy" J Clin Invest. 2008 Mar 3;118(3):879-893.
Morimoto T, et al. “The dietary compound curcumin inhibits p300 histone acetyltransferase activity and prevents heart failure in rats”. J Clin Invest. 2008 Mar 3;118(3):868-878.
For more information, see Curcumin-95
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