title: Comparison of the effects of curcumin and curcumin glucuronide in human hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cells.
abstract: Curcumin is a yellow pigment found in turmeric (Curcuma Longa L.), and is reported, in recent studies, to have several pharmacological effects, including anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumour and lipid-lowering properties. However, as most curcumin is conjugated when absorbed through the intestine, free curcumin is present at extremely low levels inside the body. Therefore, curcumin metabolites have been presumed to be responsible for the curcumin bioactivity. In this study, we first confirmed that curcumin glucuronide is the major metabolite of curcumin found in the plasma after oral administration of curcumin in rats. Next, we synthesised curcumin glucuronide and compared the effects of curcumin and curcumin glucuronide on gene expression in a human hepatoma cell line (HepG2). We found that the effects of curcumin glucuronide are weaker than those of curcumin and that this difference is related to relative absorption rates of curcumin and curcumin glucuronide into HepG2 cells.
authors.affiliation: Food and Biodynamic Chemistry Laboratory, Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tohoku University, Sendai 981-8555, Japan.
authors.forename: Motomu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shoji
authors.affiliation: Food and Biodynamic Chemistry Laboratory, Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tohoku University, Sendai 981-8555, Japan. Electronic address: nkgw@biochem.tohoku.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Kiyotaka
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nakagawa
authors.affiliation: Japan Food Research Laboratories, Osaka 567-0085, Japan.
authors.forename: Akio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Food and Biomolecular Science, Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tohoku University, Sendai 981-8555, Japan.
authors.forename: Tsuyoshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tsuduki
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Applied Bioorganic Chemistry, Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tohoku University, Sendai 981-8555, Japan.
authors.forename: Teiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamada
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Applied Bioorganic Chemistry, Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tohoku University, Sendai 981-8555, Japan.
authors.forename: Shigefumi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kuwahara
authors.affiliation: Food and Biodynamic Chemistry Laboratory, Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tohoku University, Sendai 981-8555, Japan.
authors.forename: Fumiko
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kimura
authors.affiliation: Food and Biodynamic Chemistry Laboratory, Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tohoku University, Sendai 981-8555, Japan.
authors.forename: Teruo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Miyazawa
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents / Q000737:chemistry*; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000178:diet therapy; D030024:Curcuma / Q000737:chemistry*; D003474:Curcumin / Q000031:analogs & derivatives*; D056945:Hep G2 Cells; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000178:diet therapy; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
chemical_list: D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents; D003474:Curcumin
keywords: Bioactivity; Curcumin; Glucuronide