Curcumin prevents chemically-induced inflammation in gastrointestinal lines associated with cancer promotion. - GreenMedInfo Summary
Curcumin inhibits cyclooxygenase-2 transcription in bile acid- and phorbol ester-treated human gastrointestinal epithelial cells.
J Invest Dermatol. 2009 Feb;129(2):468-75. Epub 2008 Aug 14. PMID: 10190560
Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, New York Presbyterian Hospital and Weill Medical College of Cornell University, NY 10021, USA.
We investigated whether curcumin, a chemopreventive agent, inhibited chenodeoxycholate (CD)- or phorbol ester (PMA)-mediated induction of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) in several gastrointestinal cell lines (SK-GT-4, SCC450, IEC-18 and HCA-7). Treatment with curcumin suppressed CD- and PMA-mediated induction of COX-2 protein and synthesis of prostaglandin E2. Curcumin also suppressed the induction of COX-2 mRNA by CD and PMA. Nuclear run-offs revealed increased rates of COX-2 transcription after treatment with CD or PMA and these effects were inhibited by curcumin. Treatment with CD or PMA increased binding of AP-1 to DNA. This effect was also blocked by curcumin. In addition to the above effects on gene expression, we found that curcumin directly inhibited the activity of COX-2. These data provide new insights into the anticancer properties of curcumin.