Curcumin, Inflammation, and Chronic Diseases: How are They Linked?

Dear Colleagues,

Chronic infections, obesity, alcohol, tobacco, radiation, environmental pollutants, and high-calorie diet have been recognized as major risk factors for the most chronic diseases, including cancer. All these risk factors are linked to chronic diseases through inflammation. While acute inflammation that persists for the short-term mediates host defense against infections, chronic inflammation that lasts for the long-term can predispose the host to various chronic illnesses, including cancer. Thus, suppression of these proinflammatory pathways may provide opportunities for both the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases. Although traditional medicines have been used for thousands of years, for most such medicines, neither the active component nor their molecular targets have been very well identified. Curcumin, a yellow component of turmeric or curry powder, however, is an exception. Although inhibitors of cyclooxygenase-2 (Celebrex), HER2 (Herceptin), TNF (Enbrel, Humira, Remicade), EGFR (Erbitux and Iressa), Bcr-abl (Gleevec), proteosome (Velcade), and vascular endothelial cell growth factor (Avastin) have been approved for human use by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), curcumin as a single agent can downregulate all these targets. Curcumin can also activate apoptosis, downregulate cell survival gene products, and upregulate p53, p21, and p27. Thus, curcumin regulates multiple targets (multitargeted therapy), which is needed for treatment of most chronic diseases. Also, curcumin is inexpensive and has been found to be safe in human clinical trials.  The current Special Issue is devoted to exploring the potential of curcumin in various chronic diseases.  The leaders in this field are invited to contribute.  Suppression of inflammatory pathways and their role in the prevention and therapy of chronic diseases is the focus of this Special Issue.

Prof. Dr. Bharat B. Aggarwal
Dr. Sahdeo Prasad
Guest Editors

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