'Holy powder' ingredient makes membranes behave for better health

University of Michigan ^ | Mar. 6, 2009 | Unknown

[decimon]

ANN ARBOR, Mich.---Revered in India as "holy powder," the marigold-colored spice known as turmeric has been used for centuries to treat wounds, infections and other health problems. In recent years, research into the healing powers of turmeric's main ingredient, curcumin, has burgeoned, as its astonishing array of antioxidant, anti-cancer, antibiotic, antiviral and other properties has been revealed.

Yet little has been known about exactly how curcumin works inside the body.

Now, University of Michigan researchers led by Ayyalusamy Ramamoorthy have discovered that curcumin acts as a disciplinarian, inserting itself into cell membranes and making them more orderly, a move that improves cells' resistance to infection and malignancy.

"The membrane goes from being crazy and floppy to being more disciplined and ordered, so that information flow through it can be controlled," said Ramamoorthy, a professor of chemistry and biophysics. The findings were published online March 3 in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

The research project melds Ramamoorthy's past with his current scientific interests. As a child in India, he was given turmeric-laced milk to drink when he had a cold, and he breathed steam infused with turmeric to relieve congestion. Now as researcher he is fascinated with proteins that are associated with biological membranes, and he uses a technique called solid-state NMR spectroscopy to reveal atom-level details of these important molecules and the membranous milieu in which they operate.

"Probing high-resolution intermolecular interactions in the messy membrane environment has been a major challenge to commonly-used biophysical techniques," Ramamoorthy said. His research group recently developed the two-dimensional solid-state NMR technique that they used to probe curcumin-membrane communication in this study.

Scientists have speculated that curcumin does its health-promoting work by interacting directly with membrane proteins, but the U-M findings challenge that notion. Instead, the researchers found that curcumin regulates the action of membrane proteins indirectly, by changing the physical properties of the membrane.

Ramamoorthy's group now is collaborating with chemistry professor Masato Koreeda and U-M Life Sciences Institute researcher Jason Gestwicki to study a variety of curcumin derivatives, some of which have enhanced potency. "We want to see how these various derivatives interact with the membrane, to see if the interactions are the same as what we have observed in the current study," Ramamoorthy said. "Such a comparative study could lead to the development of potent compounds to treat infection and other diseases."

In a related line of research, Ramamoorthy's team is using the same methods to investigate the effects of curcumin on the formation of amyloids---clumps of fibrous protein believed to be involved in type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and many other maladies. In addition, the researchers are looking to see whether other natural products, such as polyphenols (compounds found in many plant foods that are known to have antioxidant properties) and capsaicin (a pain reliever derived from hot peppers), interact with membranes in the same way as curcumin.

###

Along with Ramamoorthy, the paper's authors are undergraduates Jeffrey Barry and Michelle Fritz, post-doctoral fellow Jeffrey Brender, graduate student Pieter Smith and a visiting professor from South Korea, Dong-Kuk Lee.

This research was supported by funding from the National Institutes of Health.

For more information on Ramamoorthy, visit: http://www.ns.umich.edu/htdocs/public/experts/ExpDisplay.php?ExpID=1170

Journal of the American Chemical Society: http://pubs.acs.org/journal/jacsat

[decimon]

Drill sergeant spice.

[null and void]

FYI

[Larry Lucido]

But what if you’re insane in the membrane?

[DallasMike]

All I know is that it’s yummy!

[decimon]

But what if you’re insane in the membrane?

Take the hose from your nose.

[AEMILIUS PAULUS]

Ah yes those ancient remedies, always promoted by peoples whose death rate is the same as the Middle Ages.

[edcoil]

Help Wanted:

Snake Oil Salesman please apply.

Or, Al Gore.

[Scanian]

I just made some yellow rice using paprika. I should have used turmeric! I’ll be sure to do it next time. As a lymphoma patient in remission, my cells can use all the help they can get!

[LucyJo]

Also good to know: Turmeric Side Effects

[aMorePerfectUnion]

 

Some additional info about the influence of Curcumin on LDL and HDL cholesterol from LEF.org ...

 

Positive Effects on Cholesterol

In laboratory tests on animals and in vitro, scientists have shown that curcumin prevents lipid peroxidation and the oxidation of cellular and subcellular membranes that are associated with atherosclerosis.27,28,30,31,47 Moreover, curcumin acts to lower total cholesterol levels. Perhaps even more important, it prevents peroxidation of LDL (“bad”) cholesterol. LDL peroxidation plays a key role in the development of atherosclerosis, so it follows that a substance that inhibits peroxidation should benefit cardiovascular health.

Atherosclerosis is a common disorder associated with aging, diabetes, obesity, and a diet high in saturated fat. It begins gradually, as cholesterol and other lipids deposit on arterial walls and form damaging plaques. Oxidized lipids are suspected of playing a particularly damaging role in the progression of atherosclerosis. As plaques grow, vessel walls may eventually thicken and stiffen, restricting blood flow to target organs and tissues. Atherosclerosis is a major cause of heart disease and may also lead to stroke. When atherosclerotic plaques restrict blood flow to the heart, depriving cardiac muscle of vital oxygen and nutrients, coronary tissue dies. Angina and heart attack are the result. Since curcumin is a naturally occurring, well-tolerated antioxidant that is capable of destroying the dangerous free radicals that lead to lipid peroxidation, it would appear that it holds enormous potential in the fight against heart disease.

Still more intriguing than its ability to limit peroxidation is the finding that curcumin raises HDL (“good”) cholesterol levels, even as it reduces LDL levels. In a small study of human volunteers, researchers reported a highly significant 29% increase in HDL among subjects who consumed one-half gram (500 mg) of curcumin per day for seven days. Subjects also experienced a decrease in total serum cholesterol of more than 11%, and a decrease in serum lipid peroxides of 33%.48 Further human studies are needed, but these preliminary findings are promising. As one research team noted: “Administration of a nutritional dose of C. longa extracts [curcumin]…may contribute to the prevention of effects caused by a diet high in fat and cholesterol in blood and liver during the development of atherosclerosis.”27

Although scientific investigation into the therapeutic properties of curcumin is ongoing, it seems clear that this plant pigment from a humble tuber has powerful healing potential. The data are occasionally conflicting, but it seems likely that adding curcumin to one’s diet makes exceptionally good sense. Curcumin appears to prevent certain cancers, inhibit cardiovascular disease, and quell inflammation, and may even offer protection against Alzheimer’s disease. Because it has been consumed safely by millions of people literally for millennia, the choice to supplement one’s diet regularly with curcumin would seem to be a no-brainer. One word of caution, however: curcumin is poorly absorbed by the gut. Its absorption and bioavailability are significantly enhanced by the addition of an agent such as piperine, a natural alkaloid derived from black pepper.

[Lancey Howard]

BUMP!
This is interesting stuff.

[BlueDragon]

"...always promoted by peoples whose death rate is the same as the Middle Ages."

The death rate at the University of Michigan is the same as [in] the Middle Ages?

---------- http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-03/uom-pi030609.php--------

"Along with Ramamoorthy, the paper's authors are undergraduates Jeffrey Barry and Michelle Fritz, post-doctoral fellow Jeffrey Brender, graduate student Pieter Smith and a visiting professor from South Korea, Dong-Kuk Lee."

[John Will]

I already eat as much curry as an Indian, this will only give me more of an excuse.

[Twinkie]

Curcumin is an extract of the stuff in turmeric that is the actual workhorse. Still, I would think that one should still take turmeric along with curcumin in order to get the combined and complete package.

Getting fresh air (window raised half an inch works wonders IF you don’t live in a lot of pollution) into the room at night helps me breathe better, and we also have a big room air purifier in the bedroom. (My husband is allergic to dust mites, and when they get on overload, his face swells up until he looks totally unhuman. So, he has to have a purifier. The ones with negative ions are controversial as to whether or not they can cause harm.)

[ReneeLynn]

I already take Cinnamon capsules. Mom took them and her cholesterol level dropped to a normal level with no change in diet. Hmmm, tumeric may be on the list next. Thx for the post.

[mjp]

Little curcumin, when eaten, is absorbed :[27] from 2 to 10 grams of curcumin eaten alone resulted in undetectable to very low serum levels.[28] Curcumin is unstable in the gut, and the traces that pass through the GI tract rapidly degrades or is conjugated through glucuronidation. Co-supplementation with 20 mg of piperine (extracted from black pepper) significantly increased the absorption of curcumin by 2000% in a study funded by a prominent manufacturer of piperine.[28] Further, due to its effects on drug metabolism, piperine should be taken cautiously (if at all) by individuals taking other medications. Some benefits of curcumin, such as the potential protection from colon cancer, may not require systemic absorption. Alternatively, dissolving curcumin in hot water prior to ingestion, or in warm oily liquids, appears to increase bioavailability; however, no published studies to date have documented this. Cooking with curcumin and oil may increase absorption, however peer-reviewed scientific literature has not documented this, while the literature has documented concerns regarding the heat stability and degradation of curcumin in the gut.

In 2007, a polymeric nanoparticle encapsulated formulation of curcumin (”nanocurcumin”[29]) has been synthesized which has the potential to bypass many of the shortcomings associated with free curcumin, such as poor solubility and poor systemic bioavailability. Nanocurcumin particles have a size of less than 100 nanometers on average, and demonstrate comparable to superior efficacy compared to free curcumin in human cancer cell line models.[29] However, actual in vivo absorption has not been demonstrated with this nanoparticle.

In July 2008, researchers from the aforementioned team in UCLA’s Department of Neurology announced results on a form of “lipidated curcumin” that was noted to achieve more than 5 micromolar in the brain in vivo, 50 times that found in clinical studies.[30] Another method to increase the bioavailability of curcumin filed a patent in 2006 that involves a simple procedure creating a complex with soy phospholipids, however the plasma concentration of curcumin using this formulation only reached 0.033 micromolar.[31]

[RightOnTheLeftCoast]

There is definitely something to this. Google “curcumin, cystic fibrosis” and note some highly credible medical research institutions are investigating the very measurable positive effects of this turmeric derivative.

Years ago I battled a persistent hacking cough in the aftermath of a cold. Couldn’t get rid of the damn thing. No OTC medicine helped. I just kept hacking and hacking and hacking ‘til my ribs were on fire. A friend from India heard me and gave me a bag of turmeric. “Make a tea, a tablespoon or so with honey and milk if you like it, stir this in, maybe some cinnamon too.” A cups morning and evening, and it knocked my cough out in two days.

Similarly, when a dear family member was on his deathbed, his best friend in the world feared to visit because of a cough of several weeks’ duration, and he feared he’d give it to his sick friend. I told him to try the turmeric-tea trick, and his cough was entirely gone within a day and a half... in good time to have a last visit with his pal. Try to put a price on that!

It’s really quite remarkable— and cheap. You can buy a one-pound bag of turmeric in an Indian-food store for about $4. You can also find it on your grocery spice shelf for considerably more. Just be sure it’s the real thing and not some yellow food-dyed stuff. It’s one of those no-harm things. Make the tea chai-style with cinnamon, a pinch of ginger and cardamom, and it’s quite palatable. You do have to keep stirring, as the turmeric doesn’t like to dissolve.

[driftdiver]

While there have been great advances in medical science it is foolish to discredit everything learned in the 5000 years before the modern age.

[MyTwoCopperCoins]

Ah yes those ancient remedies, always promoted by peoples whose death rate is the same as the Middle Ages.

???

[thecodont]

I always include turmeric in my baked macaroni and cheese casserole. I like the flavor, and it lends a lovely yellow color.

It's also known to artists as the pigment Natural Yellow 3 (NY3).

http://www.artiscreation.com/yellow.html

Color Index Name: NY3
CI Pigment Name: Turmeric
Common / Brand Names: Curcumin; Natural Yellow 3; Turmeric; Turmeric Yellow C.I. Number: 75300
Chemical Composition / Type: Diferuloylmethane from the root of Curcuma Longa; CAS 91884-86-5 CAS 458-37-7
Color Description: Bright reddish yellow
Opacity: 4
Lightfastness: III
Oil Absorption: -
Toxicity: A *
Notes: Mustard coloring

* Toxicity scale here suggests that a toxicity rating of A would indicate that the pigment in question is edible or at least nontoxic. A highly poisonous pigment, e.g. PG21, Emerald Green, copper acetoarsenite, has a toxicity rating of D.

N.B. Saffron, that other tasty yellow pigment, is NY6.