Anti-inflammatory Effects of Tumeric

Turmeric (aka Curcumin), is a member of the ginger family. It comes from the root of a flowering plant (curcuma longa) and is responsible for giving curry its characteristic yellow colour and taste. Turmeric has been well researched and is known for it's many health benefits, especially its anti-inflammatory properties³, but did you know that Turmeric may also reduce the severity of COVID-19?

The more serious complications of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), including pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), and multi-organ failure, have been attributed to the large amount of inflammatory cytokine production.¹ Cytokines such as IL-6, IL-1B, TNF- and IL-18 are proteins that help with cell signalling (i.e communication between cells in the body). Thesse cytokines play essential roles in activation and differentiation of immune cells which in turn assist in protection from disease.³

One study showed that nano-curcumin, an anti-inflammatory herbal based agent, might be able to modulate the increased rate of inflammatory cytokines in COVID-19 patients, which may lead to an improvement in clinical manifestation and overall recovery. ¹.
The results indicated that the mRNA expression and cytokine secretion of IL-1, IL-6, TNF- and IL-18 were increased significantly in COVID-19 patients compared with a healthy control group. Treatment with nano-curcumin resulted in a significant decrease in IL-6 expression and secretion in serum.

Certain genes including NFE2L2, GSTP1 and TNF have been associated with cytokine activity, ^{[1, 2]}

Related to:
Curcumin, Nano-curcumin, IL-6, IL-1B, TNF-alpha, NF-kB, Cytokines, Covid-19,