Curcumin inhibits cyclooxygenase-2 expression in human colon cancer cells. - GreenMedInfo Summary
Specific inhibition of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression by dietary curcumin in HT-29 human colon cancer cells.
Cancer Lett. 2001 Oct 30;172(2):111-8. PMID: 11566484
Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, The University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0688, USA.
Curcumin, a major yellow pigment and active component of turmeric, has been shown to possess anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer activities. Cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 plays an important role in colon carcinogenesis. To investigate the effect of curcumin on COX-2 expression, we treated HT-29 human colon cancer cells with various concentrations of curcumin. Curcumin inhibited the cell growth of HT-29 cells in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. Curcumin markedly inhibited the mRNA and protein expression of COX-2, but not COX-1. These data suggest that a non-toxic concentration of curcumin has a significant effect on the in vitro growth of HT-29 cells, specifically inhibits COX-2 expression, and may have value as a safe chemopreventive agent for colon cancer.
