Curcumin May Benefit Eyes and Liver

Curcumin is the yellow pigment that makes the spice turmeric, and the many Asian dishes containing it, yellow. Turmeric has been used as both food and medicine in the Ayurvedic tradition for centuries, if not millennia. Two new unrelated studies have found that curcumin may benefit eye and liver health due to its antioxidant capacity and resulting anti-inflammatory properties. Both studies were conducted on lab animals.

In the first of the two studies, researchers tested to see if the antioxidant properties of curcumin would affect the development of cataracts in rats.¹ For the study, researchers used 4 matched groups of Wistar rat pups that were 8 to 10 days old. In addition to the control group which received saline injections, 3 groups received sodium selenite injections to the peritoneum to induce cataracts. Of those 3 groups, one group received only the sodium selenite injections. The other two groups received an oral dose of curcumin either 24 hours before or 24 hours after the sodium selenite injections.

The sodium selenite injections "led to severe oxidative stress in eye lens as evidenced by enhanced lipid peroxidation levels that led to cataract formation" in the group that did not receive the curcumin. The group without the curcumin also saw drastic reductions in antioxidant enzymes and other antioxidant compounds.

In the two groups that received the curcumin either before or after the injection, the curcumin treatments "led to a significant decrease in the levels of lipid peroxidation, enzymic antioxidants, and non-enzymic antioxidants, which were similar to that of control." That is, the curcumin was so effective at reducing the oxidation caused by the sodium selenite, the impact on these two groups was similar to the group that did not receive sodium selenite. Based on these findings, the researchers concluded that consumption of curcumin could potentially help prevent the development of cataracts caused by aging.

In the second study, researchers from Austria have found that curcumin could reduce or delay the development of cirrhosis of the liver in mice.² In this study, researchers analyzed the tissue and blood samples taken from mice with chronic liver inflammation from before and after curcumin was added to their diets. One group received curcumin for 4 weeks, while another received curcumin for 8 weeks. Naturally, the control group was not given any curcumin. In both groups receiving the curcumin, the results were clear, the curcumin reduce liver cell damage, liver scarring and bile duct blockage. The researchers concluded that curcumin may affect multiple biochemical pathways in the liver to reduce inflammation.

It is not known whether the results from either of these trails will translate to humans, however these are still interesting results. They demonstrate that curcumin is a powerful antioxidant that may provide some significant health benefits, and add to a large body of previous research indicating positive health outcomes associated with curcumin.

Whole Health offers curcumin in our Anti-Inflammatory Support, a synergistic blend of seven ingredients that may help reduce inflammation in the body and improve overall health. Learn more about curcumin and our Anti-Inflammatory Support here.

1. Manikandan, R., R. Thiagarajan, et al. (2010). "Effect of curcumin on selenite-induced cataractogenesis in Wistar rat pups." Curr Eye Res 35(2): 122-9.

2. Baghdasaryan, A., T. Claudel, et al. (2010). "Curcumin improves sclerosing cholangitis in Mdr2-/- mice by inhibition of cholangiocyte inflammatory response and portal myofibroblast proliferation." Gut 59(4): 521-30.