Can Curcumin Lower Your Risk Of COVID-19?

Curcumin has already acknowledged immense interest from both medical and scientific research because of its multifaceted activity. To date, the promising effects of curcumin were perceived against numerous inflammatory diseases. 

Curcumin, a natural polyphenolic compound extracted from roots of rhizome plant Curcuma longa (family Zingiberaceae), exhibits wide range of therapeutic properties including antioxidant, anti-microbial, anti-proliferative, anti-inflammatory, neuroprotective and cardioprotective properties. Besides, curcumin’s role as a medicine has been studied in many virus infections like influenza, HIV, etc.

One study (1) suggests that curcumin can prevent COVID-19 infections by,

The mechanisms hiding behind the curcumin-induced cellular immunity can possibly indicate a therapeutic dosage of curcumin as part of a preventive strategy against COVID-19.

COVID-19 – A Briefing Of Pathophysiology

The preliminary symptoms like cough and cold along with fever in COVID-19, gradually develop into further complications like severe pneumonia, coagulopathy and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).The transmission of SARS-CoV-2 occurs via respiratory aerosols and binds to the nasal epithelial cells in the upper respiratory tract resulting in severe pneumonia-like symptoms. 

Subsequent migration towards the lower respiratory tract causes damage in alveolar cells leading to the development of ARDS (1).DIC-like massive intravascular clot formation is frequently observed among severely ill COVID-19 patients (1). Viral invasion impairs the innate immune system and thus are more prone to viral infection.Although coronaviruses have a preferential tropism for lung cells, it mostly impairs the innate immune machinery by directly infecting T cells (1). 

SARS-CoV-2 targets multiple aspects of the body’s innate immunity (2).

What Is The Role Of Curcumin Against Disease?

The popular use of curcumin in research is mainly due to its pleiotropic properties including anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and anti-carcinogenic activities.Curcumin can inhibit the inflammatory mediators, oxidation processes, and oxidative stress thereby acts as an anti-inflammatory agent against many diseases. Curcumin also acts as an antibacterial agent against several strains of Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, Helicobacter and Pseudomonas mainly by growth inhibition. Curcumin also has anti-fungal properties.

Different studies identified the efficacy of curcumin against Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), Herpes simplex virus (HSV), Hepatitis viruses etc (1).

Major Targets Of Curcumin As A COVID-19 

When considering the therapeutic approach against COVID-19  based on the use of curcumin, curcumin supports two infection pathogenesis mechanisms within the body. One mechanism of supporting the body is when the virus is within the host cell and the other has to do with the innate ability of the immune system to defend against infection. Combating viral infection, viral entry and its replication within the host cell are the most important events and have always been a challenge. COVID-19 is a membrane enveloped virus- a bigger challenge for the body to fight.

Several in vitro experiments have been conducted to explore the role of curcumin and its analogues on viral entry inhibition (3, 4). For instance, membrane fluidity experiments indicate that curcumin impairs both viral binding and fusion in the case of HCV and thus inhibits cell-to-cell transmission independent of the viral genotype (3). Consistently, both the zika and chikungunya virus responded to 5 µM curcumin without affecting the cellular viability. Recently literature revealed that curcumin holds the better binding capability to the ACE2 receptors and may hinder the entry of the COVID‐19 virus (5).

Apart from targeting the viral life cycle, the immune system plays an important role against infection. The role of curcumin as an immune-modulator against a plethora of viral and bacterial infections has been extensively studied (6, 4, 7). Several mechanisms of cellular immunity against pathogens have been observed. Regulation of T-cells is one of the most important mechanisms in cellular immunity, which can be modulated by curcumin and its derivatives (8, 9, 10). 

Viral infection mostly resulted in a discrepancy in pro-and anti-inflammatory cytokines as a part of innate immunity activation to eliminate viruses. A large amount of evidence suggests that curcumin potentially regulates cytokine release ( 6, 7, 11). 

Uses Of Curcumin As A COVID-19 Therapy

Since mid-December of 2019, the pandemic COVID-19 has been spreading exponentially and shook the global health scenario. The symptoms of SARS-CoV-2 infection develop pneumonia by manifesting Acute Lung Infection (ALI) which was also found in previous infections like SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, H5N1, H7N9. However, ‘cytokine storm’ is the common phenomenon that plays a crucial role in the development and progression of fatal pneumonia (12, 13). Hence, apart from the inhibition of viral entry into the host cell, targeting the regulation of the cytokine is one of the most important mechanisms of combating COVID-19 infection. Curcumin is one of the extensively studied compounds that has already been claimed for its benefits in human health and disease prevention.

Curcumin can potentially block pathogen entry into host cells irrespective of the presence of envelope, along with inhibiting the viral genome expansion while it can also inhibit virion release mechanisms in some cases. Comparing with the available literature, it has been suggested that CoVs infection can be prevented by inhibition of viral entry, viral genome release and replication within the host cell. In addition to this, curcumin induced immunomodulation plays an important role in viral infection.

The Bottom Line

Curcumin, a natural polyphenolic compound extracted from roots of rhizome plant Curcuma longa (family Zingiberaceae) and exhibits wide range of therapeutic properties including antioxidant, anti-microbial, anti-proliferative, anti-inflammatory, neuroprotective and cardioprotective properties. In the context of preventive and supportive therapy, several polyphenolic compounds extracted from natural products were identified with varied antiviral mechanisms such as targeting virus host specific interactions, viral entry, replication, and assembly.

In line with these findings, curcumin, is one of the natural compounds that had been widely investigated for its antiviral effects [4]. Henceforth, it is clear that the biological properties including advance mode of drug delivery system of curcumin could be considered while formulating the pharmaceutical products and its application as preventive measure in the inhibition of transmission of SARS-COV2 infection among humans.

In conclusion, curcumin could be used as a supportive therapy in the treatment of COVID-19 disease.

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Liability Disclaimer: This article, including tips, provides general information only. It is in no way a substitute for expert medical opinion. Always consult a specialist or your own doctor for more information. Herbalista assumes no responsibility for this information.

Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphar.2021.675287/full