Targeted delivery of curcumin for treating type 2 diabetes
- 14 March 2013
- journal article
- review article
- Published by Wiley in Molecular Nutrition & Food Research
- Vol. 57 (9), 1550-1556
- https://doi.org/10.1002/mnfr.201200791
Abstract
Type 2 diabetes is a chronic condition in which cells have reduced insulin signalling, leading to hyperglycemia and long‐term complications, including heart, kidney and liver disease. Macrophages activated by dying or stressed cells, induce the transcription factor nuclear factor kappa‐B leading to the production of pro‐inflammatory cytokines including TNF and IL‐6. These inflammatory macrophages in liver and adipose tissue promote insulin resistance, and medications which reduce inflammation and enhance insulin signalling improve glucose control. Curcumin is an anti‐oxidant and nuclear factor kappa‐B inhibitor derived from turmeric. A number of studies have shown that dietary curcumin reduces inflammation and delays or prevents obesity‐induced insulin resistance and associated complications, including atherosclerosis and immune mediate liver disease. Unfortunately dietary curcumin is poorly absorbed by the digestive system and undergoes glucuronidation and excretion rather than being released into the serum and systemically distributed. This confounds understanding of how dietary curcumin exerts its beneficial effects in type 2 diabetes and associated diseases. New improved methods of delivering curcumin are being developed including nanoparticles and lipid/liposome formulations that increase absorption and bioavailability of curcumin. Development and refinement of these technologies will enable cell‐directed targeting of curcumin and improved therapeutic outcome.Keywords
Funding Information
- Arthritis Queensland and an ARC Future Fellowship and B. O. S.
- Queensland Government Smart State Fellowships and Arthritis Queensland
This publication has 56 references indexed in Scilit:
- The cellular and signaling networks linking the immune system and metabolism in diseaseNature Medicine, 2012
- Type 2 diabetes as an inflammatory diseaseNature Reviews Immunology, 2011
- Potential Role of Salicylates in Type 2 DiabetesAnnals of Pharmacotherapy, 2010
- The role of pattern-recognition receptors in innate immunity: update on Toll-like receptorsNature Immunology, 2010
- Macrophages, Inflammation, and Insulin ResistanceAnnual Review of Physiology, 2010
- Discovery and development of selective PPARγ modulators as safe and effective antidiabetic agentsExpert Opinion on Investigational Drugs, 2010
- DAMPening Inflammation by Modulating TLR SignallingMediators of Inflammation, 2010
- Macrophage PPARγ is required for normal skeletal muscle and hepatic insulin sensitivity and full antidiabetic effects of thiazolidinedionesJCI Insight, 2007
- Inflammation and insulin resistanceJCI Insight, 2006
- Oxidative Stress and Stress-Activated Signaling Pathways: A Unifying Hypothesis of Type 2 DiabetesEndocrine Reviews, 2002