title: Low-dose curcumin leads to the inhibition of tumor growth via enhancing CTL-mediated antitumor immunity.
abstract: Curcumin, a yellow pigment extracted from turmeric, is widely used to inhibit tumor progression. Since it can either promote or suppress the immune system, how curcumin affects the immune system in tumor-bearing bodies is not yet clear. Our study found that tumor-bearing mice treated consecutively once a day with low-dose curcumin for ten days led to a retarded tumor growth and a longer survival, which might be contributed to T cell-mediated adaptive immune response. The in vitro study also showed that a high-dose curcumin decreases T cells whereas a low-dose increases T cells derived from 3LL tumor-bearing mice, especially CD8+ T cells. Accordingly, these increased CD8+ T cells exhibited the enhancement of IFN-γ secretion, proliferation and cytotoxicity specifically against 3LL tumor cells, which may result in the success of antitumor immunity. Our research demonstrated a beneficial effect of curcumin on CD8+ T cells derived from tumor-bearing mice, which can provide a potential application in anti-tumor therapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology of Shanghai Medical College, Key Laboratory of Molecular Medicine of Ministry of Education, Fudan University, 138 Yi Xue Yuan Road, Shanghai 200032, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Feifei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.forename: Xiao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Yiwei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chu
mesh_terms: D056704:Adaptive Immunity / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology; D000818:Animals; D018827:Carcinoma, Lewis Lung / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology; D048708:Cell Growth Processes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003474:Curcumin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005260:Female; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008819:Mice, Nude; D009374:Neoplasms, Experimental / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology*; D013602:T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000276:immunology*; D015854:Up-Regulation
chemical_list: D007371:Interferon-gamma; D003474:Curcumin