Curcumin may also affect oxidative stress and the non-coding genetic material. This review analyses the relationships between immunodeficiency and the onset of infectious diseases and discusses the effects of curcumin and its derivatives on the immune response. In addition, we analyse some of the preclinical and clinical studies that support its possible use in prophylaxis or in the treatment of infectious diseases.

Lastly, we examine how nanotechnologies can enhance the clinical use of curcumin. Keywords: B cells; T cells; bacterial infections; curcumin; inflammatory immune response; primary immunodeficiency; secondary immunodeficiency; sepsis; viral infections. Abstract Primary and secondary immunodeficiencies cause an alteration in the immune response which can increase the rate of infectious diseases and worsened prognoses.

Publication types Review. PubMed Google Scholar. Wang YJ, Pan MH, Cheng AL, Lin LI, Ho YS, Hsieh CY, Lin JK: Stability of curcumin in buffer solutions and characterization of its degradation products. J Pharm Biomed Anal 15 12 —, Wang F, Wu X, Wang F, Liu S, Jia Z, Yang J: The sensitive method for the determination of curcumin using the enhancement of mixed micelle.

J Fluoresc 16 1 —59, Arora R, Kapoor V, Basu N, Jain AP: Anti-inflammatory studies on Curcuma longa turmeric.

Ind J Med Res —, Mukhopadhyay A, Basu N, Ghatak N: Anti-inflammatory and irritant activities of curcumin analogues rats. Agents Actions —, Srivastava R: Inhibition of neutrophil response by curcumin. Jobin C, Bradham CA, Russo MP, Juma, B, Narula AS, Brenner DA, Sartor RB: Curcumin blocks cytokine-mediated Nfkappa B activation and proinflammatory gene expression by inhibiting inhibitory factor I-κB kinase activity.

J Immunol —, Negi PS, Jayaprakasha GK, Jagan Mohan Rao L, Sakariah KK: Antibacterial activity of turmeric oil: A byproduct from curcumin manufacture. J Agric Food Chem —, Mazumder A, Raghavan K, Weinstein J, Kohn KW, Pommier Y: Inhibition of human immunodeficiency virus type-1 integrase by curcumin.

Biochem Pharmcol —, Bourne KZ, Bourne N, Reising SF, Stanberry LR: Plant products as topical microbicide candidates: Assessment of in vitro and in vivo activity against herpes simplex virus type 2.

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Phytomedicine —, Ruby AJ, Kuttan G, Babu KD, Rajasekharan KN, Kuttan R: Anti-tumour and antioxidant activity of natural curcuminoids. Cancer Lett —83, Balasubramanyam M, Koteswari AA, Kumar RS, Monickaraj SF, Maheswari JU, Mohan V: Curcumin-induced inhibition of cellular reactive oxygen species generation: Novel therapeutic implications.

J Biosci 28 6 —, Garg AK, Buchholz TA, Aggarwal BB: Chemosensitization and radiosensitization of tumors by plant polyphenols. Antioxid Redox Signal 7 11—12 —, Abraham SK, Sarma L, Kesavan PC: Protective effects of chlorogenic acid, curcumin and beta-carotene against gamma-radiation-induced in vivo chromosomal damage.

Mutat Res 3 —, Rezvani M, Ross GA: Modification of radiation-induced acute oral mucositis in the rat.

Int J Radiat Biol 80 2 —, Chendil D, Ranga RS, Meigooni D, Sathishkumar S, Ahmed MM: Curcumin confers radiosensitizing effect in prostate cancer cell line PC Oncogene —, Khafif A, Hurst R, Kyker K, Fliss DM, Gil Z, Medina JE: Curcumin: A new radiosensitizer of squamous cell carcinoma cells.

Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg —, Sidhu GS, Singh AK, Thaloor D, Banaudha KK, Patnaik GK, Srimal RC, Maheshwari RK: Enhancement of wound healing by curcumin in animals.

Wound Repair Regen —, Sidhu GS, Mani H, Gaddipati JP, Singh AK, Seth P, Banaudha KK, Patnaik GK, Maheshwari RK: Curcumin enhances wound healing in streptozotocin induced diabetic rats and genetically diabetic mice.

Jiang MC, Yang-Yen HF, Yen JJ, Lin JK: Curcumin induces apoptosis in immortalized NIH 3T3 and malignant cancer cell lines. Nutr Cancer —, Huang M-T, Lou RY, Ma W, Newmark HL, Reuhl KR, Conney AH: Inhibitory effects of dietary curcumin on forestomach duodenal and colon carcinogenesis in mice.

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Pereira MA, Grubbs CJ, Barnes LH, Li H, Olson GR, Eto I, Juliana M, Whitaker LM, Kelloff GJ, Steele VE, Lubet RA: Effects of the phytochemicals, curcumin and quercetin upon azoxymethane induced colon cancer and 7,12 dimethylbenz a anthracene induced mammary cancer in rats.

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J Immunol 6 —, Sikora E, Bielak-Zmijewska A, Piwocka K, Skierski J, Radziszewska E: Inhibition of proliferation and apoptosis of human and rat T lymphocytes by curcumin, a curry pigment. Biochem Pharmacol 54 8 —, Tomita M, Kawakami H, Uchihara JN, Okudaira T, Masuda M, Takasu N, Matsuda T, Ohta T, Tanaka Y, Mori N: Curcumin suppresses constitutive activation of AP-1 by downregulation of JunD protein in HTLVinfected T-cell lines.

Leuk Res 30 3 —, Tomita M, Kawakami H, Uchihara JN, Okudaira T, Masuda M, Takasu N, Matsuda T, Ohta T, Tanaka Y, Ohshiro K, Mori N: Curcumin diferuloylmethane inhibits constitutive active NF-kappaB, leading to suppression of cell growth of human T-cell leukemia virus type I-infected T-cell lines and primary adult T-cell leukemia cells.

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FEBS Lett —82, South EH, Exon JH, Hendrix K: Dietary curcumin enhances antibody response in rats. Immunopharmacol Immunotoxicol 19 1 —, Gao X, Kuo J, Jiang H, Deeb D, Liu Y, Divine G, Chapman RA, Dulchavsky SA, Gautam SC: Immunomodulatory activity of curcumin: suppression of lymphocyte proliferation, development of cell-mediated cytotoxicity, and cytokine production in vitro.

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J Exp Med —, Steinman RM: The dendritic cell system and its role in immunogenicity. Annu Rev Immunol —, Cella M, Sallusto F, Lanzavecchia A: Origin, maturation and antigen-presenting function of dendritic cells.

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J Immunol 12 —, Agents Actions 28 3—4 —, Antony S, Kuttan R, Kuttan G: Immunomodulatory activity of curcumin. Immunol Invest 28 5—6 —, Ju HR, Wu HY, Nishizono S, Sakono M, Ikeda I, Sugano M, Imaizumi K: Effects of dietary fats and curcumin on IgE-mediated degranulation of intestinal mast cells in brown Norway rats.

Biosci Biotechnol Biochem 60 11 —, Flynn DL, Rafferty MF, Boctor AM: Inhibition of 5-hydroxy-eicosatetraenoic acid 5-HETE formation in intact human neutrophils by naturally-occurring diarylheptanoids: Inhibitory activities of curcuminoids and yakuchinones.

Prostaglandins Leukot Med 22 3 —, Bielak-Zmijewska A, Koronkiewicz M, Skierski J, Piwocka K, Radziszewska E, Sikora E: Effect of curcumin on the apoptosis of rodent and human nonproliferating and proliferating lymphoid cells.

Nutr Cancer 38 1 —, Chan MM: Inhibition of tumor necrosis factor by curcumin, a phytochemical. Biochem Pharmacol 49 11 —, Lantz RC, Chena GJ, Solyomb AM, Jolad SD, Timmermann BN: The effect of turmeric extracts on inflammatory mediator production.

Lee JJ, Huang WT, Shao DZ, Liao JF, Lin MT: Blocking NF-kappaB activation may be an effective strategy in the fever therapy. Jpn J Physiol 53 5 —, Abe Y, Hashimoto S, Horie T: Curcumin inhibition of inflammatory cytokine production by human peripheral blood monocytes and alveolar macrophages.

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Biol Pharm Bull 29 7 —, Gulcubuk A, Altunatmaz K, Sonmez K, Haktanir-Yatkin D, Uzun H, Gurel A, Aydin S: Effects of curcumin on tumour necrosis factor-α and interleukin-6 in the late phase of experimental acute pancreatitis.

J Vet Med A Physiol Pathol Clin Med —54, Shock 19 2 —, Siddiqui AM, Cui X, Wu R, Dong W, Zhou M, Hu M, Simms HH, Wang P: The anti-inflammatory effect of curcumin in an experimental model of sepsis is mediated by up-regulation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ.

Crit Care Med 34 7 —, Jang MK, Sohn DH, Ryu JH: A curcuminoid and sesquiterpenes as inhibitors of macrophage TNF-alpha release from Curcuma zedoaria. Planta Med 67 6 —, Deeb D, Xu YX, Jiang H, Gao X, Janakiraman N, Chapman RA, Gautam SC: Curcumin diferuloyl-methane enhances tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand-induced apoptosis in LNCaP prostate cancer cells.

Mol Cancer Ther —, Mol Cancer Ther 3 7 —, Jung E, Park MJ, Choi KS, Park J-W, Lee HI, Lee KS, Kwon TK: Curcumin sensitizes tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis- inducing ligand TRAIL -mediated apoptosis through CHOP-independent DR5 upregulation.

Carcinogenesis 27 10 —, Jung EM, Lim JH, Lee TJ, Park J-W, Choi KS, Kwon TK: Curcumin sensitizes tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand TRAIL -induced apoptosis through reactive oxygen species-mediated upregulation of death receptor 5 DR5.

Terry CM, Clikeman JA, Hoidal JR, Callahan KS: Effect of tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-1α on heme oxygenase-1 expression in human endothelial cells. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 43 :H—H, Hidaka H, Ishiko T, Furuhashi T, Kamohara H, Suzuki S, Miyazaki M, Ikeda O, Mita S, Setoguchi T, Ogawa M: Curcumin inhibits interleukin 8 production and enhances interleukin 8 receptor expression on the cell surface: impact on human pancreatic carcinoma cell growth by autocrine regulation.

Cancer —, Wang X, Wang Q, Ives KL, Ever BM: Curcumin inhibits neurotensin-mediated interleukin-8 production and migration of HCT human colon cancer cells. Clin Cancer Res 12 18 —, Renard P, Delaive E, Van Steenbrugge M, Remacle J, Raes M: Is the effect of interleukin-1 on glutathione oxidation in cultured human fibroblasts involved in nuclear factor-κB activation?

Antioxid Redox Signal —, Jobin C, Bradham CA, Russo MP, Juma B, Narula AS, Brenner DA, Sartor RB: Curcumin blocks cytokine-mediated NF-κB activation and proinflammatory gene expression by inhibiting inhibitory factor I-κB kinase activity. Chaudhary LR, Avioli LV: Regulation of interleukin-8 gene expression by interleukin-1beta, osteotropic hormones, and protein kinase inhibitors in normal human bone marrow stromal cells.

Kang BY, Chung SW, Chung W, Im S, Hwang SY, Kim TS: Inhibition of interleukin production in lipopolysaccharide-activated macrophages by curcumin. Eur J Pharmacol 2—3 —, Br J Pharmacol 2 —, Takeda K, Kaisho T, Akira S: Toll-like receptors.

Youn HS, Saitoh SI, Miyake K, Hwang DH: Inhibition of homodimerization of Toll-like receptor 4 by curcumin. Biochem Pharmacol 72 1 —69, Kato S, Yuzawa Y, Tsuboi N, Maruyama S, Morita Y, Matsuguchi T, Matsuo S: Endotoxin-induced chemokine expression in murine peritoneal mesothelial cells: the role of toll-like receptor 4.

J Am Soc Nephrol —, Matsuguchi T, Musikacharoen T, Ogawa T, Yoshikai Y: Gene expressions of Toll-like receptor 2, but not Toll-like receptor 4, is induced by LPS and inflammatory cytokines in mouse macrophages.

J Immunol 10 —, Mendez-Samperio P, Palma J, Vazquez A: Roles of intracellular calcium and NF-κB in the Bacillus Calmette-Guerin-induced secretion of interleukin-8 from human monocytes. Cell Immunol 2 —, Nakayama K, Furusu A, Xu Q, Konta T, Kitamura M: Unexpected transcriptional induction of monocytes chemoattractant protein 1 by proteasome inhibition: involvement of the c-Jun N-terminal kinase-activator protein 1 pathway.

J Immunol 3 —, Xu YX, Pindolia KR, Janakiraman N, Noth CJ, Chapman RA, Gautam SC: Curcumin, a compound with anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties, downregulates chemokine expression in bone marrow stromal cells.

Exp Hematol 25 5 —, Xu YX, Pindolia KR, Janakiraman N, Chapman RA, Gautam SC: Curcumin inhibits IL1 alpha and TNF-alpha induction of AP-1 and NF-kB DNA-binding activity in bone marrow stromal cells. Hematopathol Mol Hematol —62, Watanabe A, Takeshita A, Kitano S, Hanazawa S: CDmediated signal pathway of Porphyromonas gingivalis lipopolysaccharide in human gingival fibroblasts.

Infect Immun 64 11 —, Kobayashi T, Hashimoto S, Horie T: Curcumin inhibition of Dermatophagoides farinea -induced interleukin-5 IL-5 and granulocyte macrophage-colony stimulating factor GM-CSF production by lymphocytes from bronchial asthmatics.

Biochem Pharmacol 54 7 —, Gupta B, Ghosh B: Curcuma longa inhibits TNF-alpha induced expression of adhesion molecules on human umbilical vein endothelial cells. Int J Immunopharmacol 21 11 —, Huang MT, Lysz T, Ferraro T, Abidi TF, Laskin JD, Conney AH: Inhibitory effects of curcumin on in vitro lipooxygenase and cyclooxygenase activities in mouse epidermis.

Cancer Res 51 3 —, Tunstall RG, Sharma RA, Perkins S, Sale S, Singh R, Farmer PB, Steward WP, Gescher AJ: Cyclooxygenase-2 expression and oxidative DNA adducts in murine intestinal adenomas: modification by dietary curcumin and implications for clinical trials.

Eur J Cancer 42 3 —, Chun KS, Keum YS, Han SS, Song YS, Kim SH, Surh YJ: Curcumin inhibits phorbol ester-induced expression of cyclooxygenase-2 in mouse skin through suppression of extracellular signal-regulated kinase activity and NF-κB activation.

Anticancer Res 26 2A —, Oncol Rep 15 5 —, Atsumi T, Murakami Y, Shibuya K, Tonosaki K, Fujisawa S: Induction of cytotoxicity and apoptosis and inhibition of cyclooxygenase-2 gene expression, by curcumin and its analog, alpha-diisoeugenol.

Anticancer Res 25 6B —, Plummer SM, Hill KA, Festing MF, Steward WP, Gescher AJ, Sharma RA: Clinical development of leukocyte cyclooxygenase 2 activity as a systemic biomarker for cancer chemopreventive agents.

Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 10 12 —, Moon Y, Glasgow WC, Eling TE: Curcumin suppresses interleukin 1β-mediated microtonal prostaglandin E syntheses 1 by altering early growth response gene 1 and other signaling pathways.

J Pharmacol Exp Ther 2 —, Lee J, Im YH, Jung HH, Kim JH, Park JO, Kim K, Kim WS, Ahn JS, Jung CW, Park YS, Kang WK, Park K: Curcumin inhibits interferon-alpha induced NF-kappaB and COX-2 in human A non-small cell lung cancer cells.

Biochem Biophys Res Commun 2 —, Jiang H, Deng CS, Zhang M, Xia J: Curcumin-attenuated trinitrobenzene sulphonic acid induces chronic colitis by inhibiting expression of cyclooxygenase World J Gastroenterol 12 24 —, Shishodia S, Potdar P, Gairola CG, Aggarwal BB: Curcumin diferuloylmethane down-regulates cigarette smoke-induced NF-kappaB activation through inhibition of IkappaB alpha kinase in human lung epithelial cells: correlation with suppression of COX-2, MMP-9 and cyclin D1.

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They can also alter the immune response, thus, making the infection even worse. Curcumin is the most biologically active component of the turmeric root and appears to be an antimicrobial agent.

Curcumin cooperates with various cells such as macrophages, dendritic cells, B, T, and natural killer cells to modify the body's defence capacity. Curcumin also inhibits inflammatory responses by suppressing different metabolic pathways, reduces the production of inflammatory cytokines, and increases the expression of anti-inflammatory cytokines.

Curcumin may also affect oxidative stress and the non-coding genetic material. This review analyses the relationships between immunodeficiency and the onset of infectious diseases and discusses the effects of curcumin and its derivatives on the immune response. In addition, we analyse some of the preclinical and clinical studies that support its possible use in prophylaxis or in the treatment of infectious diseases.

It's important to cut out processed foods and especially ultra-processed foods. Replace these with a broad and varied range of plant-based foods," Watson says.

T cells protect us from pathogens such as bacteria, viruses and fungi and can also wipe out infected or cancerous cells. They also help B lymphocytes B cells to create antibodies that bind to pathogens and toxins and neutralise them so they can't enter a normal cell and cause infection.

These are your immune system's peacekeepers. They control or suppress other cells in the immune system, and are designed to send a signal to immunity to withdraw, pause an attack and stand down.

Without their regulation and molecules, the immune system can get out of control, attacking your body inappropriately. For optimal health you need sufficient but not excessive regulation by TREGS. Your system is effectively walking a tightrope to maintain just the right balance: insufficient immunity too many TREGS may increase incidence of infections and cancer, while an over-enthusiastic immune system too few TREGS may lead to damage to your own organs.

Macrophages act like proactive mops in the immune system — they're white blood cells that surround and kill microorganisms, remove dead cells, and stimulate the action of other immune system cells. Natural killer cells are killing machines that recognise changes in your own cells, killing them when they become infected with a virus.

Dotted around your body, but also making up 10 per cent of your white blood cells, they patrol and inspect each cell, responding to newly-formed tumours and any abnormal growth. These are a special type of immune cell found in tissues, such as the skin, that boost the response of other immune system cells.

Find out how liquid micellar technology makes turmeric x better-absorbed and 7x faster-acting. She is a member of the Medical Journalists' Association and her features have appeared in various publications including Woman's Own and the Guardian.

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