Turmeric For Malaria

[XXPANTHAXX]

Turmeric, the yellow spice used in many Indian dishes, has shown potential as a weapon against malaria. Scientists at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bangalore and the University of Michigan Medical School, United States have shown that curcumin, the chemical that gives turmeric its distinctive yellow colour, inhibits drug-resistant forms of P. Falciparum. The findings have been published in Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications in January 2005. (Reddy RC, Vatsala PG, Keshamouni VG, Padmanaban G, Rangarajan PN. Curcumin for malaria therapy. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications. 2005;326(2):472-474).
Turmeric
Curcumin isolated from the roots of the Curcuma longa plant has been shown to regulate a number of biological responses. In addition to its anti-tumorigenic, anti-oxidant, and anti-inflammatory effects, curcumin has been shown to possess anti-microbial activity, shown to hinder the viability of Leishmania and Trypanosoma. In the present study, curcumin inhibited the growth of P. falciparum in a dose-dependent fashion, with an IC50 of 5 μM. Increasing doses of curcumin resulted in decreased viability of P. Falciparum, with a dose of 50 μM leading to negligible proliferation. When tested in a well-characterized in vivo P. Berghei-rodent infection model, curcumin had significant beneficial effects. Oral feeding of curcumin to P. Berghei-infected mice decreased blood parasitemia by 80–90% and enhanced their survival significantly compared to vehicle-fed controls. Curcumin treatment resulted in an overall survival rate of 29% compared to 0% in vehicle-fed animals by day 21 post-infection. Curcumin was administered 48 h after infection (3–5% parasitemia), once daily for 5 days at a dose of 100 mg/kg body weight. This dose of curcumin has not been demonstrated to result in toxic side effects in humans when compared on a weight to weight basis. A phase 1 human trial using up to 8000 mg of curcumin per day for 3 months found no toxicity from curcumin.
The exact mechanism(s) of curcumin’s antimalarial action is not clear. The inhibition of parasite growth in culture suggests a direct mechanism of action involving parasite biochemical processes. One of the possible targets for curcumin action could be PfATP6, the parasite orthologue of mammalian sarcoplasmic–endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase (SERCA). Artemisinin has recently been shown to inhibit PfATP6. It is therefore possible that curcumin and artemisinin act through similar mechanisms.
Curcumin appears to be an ideal antimalarial molecule especially for use in combination with antimalarials such as artemisinin not only to limit the use of the latter but to overcome the problems of high cost, recrudescence, and drug resistance. The authors suggest that in view of its abundance, non-toxic nature, and demonstrated therapeutic effects in a variety of human diseases, it will be useful to further investigate the potential of curcumin in developing low-cost antimalarial therapies.
"Curcumin may offer a novel treatment for malarial infection and could be an Indian contribution to arrest malaria," says Govindrajan Padmanabhan, scientist emeritus at IISc and one of the researchers. Curcumin could be developed into the world’s first low-cost, easy to produce/isolate, low-toxicity malaria drug and Phase II clinical trials will be initiated to find out its efficacy on humans. As turmeric has been used since long, the toxicity and side effects of its derivative may not pose a big problem. If found effective, it may become the ideal agent needed for global malaria control programs and eradication of this deadly disease, the researchers hope.
Sources:

* Battling malaria with turmeric!
* Turmeric to battle malaria
* Turmeric can combat malaria, cancer virus and HIV (SciDev.Net, 11 March 2005)
* Turmeric takes the sting out of malaria
* Turmerize the Malaria: The Scientific Indian
* Spice takes sting out of malaria

[Sybil of Dreams]

Interesting. I wonder how it affects the sickle-cell trait, the evolutionary response to malaria.