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Curcumin
is an in vivo inhibitor of angiogenesis
Arbiser
JL, Klauber N, Rohan R, van Leeuwen R, Huang MT, Fisher C, Flynn E, Byers HR
Department
of Dermatology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. jlarbiser@bics.bwh.harvard.edu
Background.
Curcumin is a small-molecular-weight compound that is isolated from the commonly
used spice turmeric. In animal models, curcumin and its derivatives have been
shown to inhibit the progression of chemically induced colon and skin cancers.
The genetic changes in carcinogenesis in these organs involve different genes,
but curcumin is effective in preventing carcinogenesis in both organs.
A
possible explanation for this finding is that curcumin may inhibit angiogenesis.
Materials
and Methods. Curcumin was tested for its ability to inhibit the proliferation of
primary endothelial cells in the presence and absence of basic fibroblast growth
factor (bFGF), as well as its ability to inhibit proliferation of an
immortalized endothelial cell line.
Curcumin and its derivatives were
subsequently tested for their ability to inhibit bFGF-induced corneal
neovascularization in the mouse cornea.
Finally, curcumin was tested for its
ability to inhibit phorbol ester-stimulated vascular endothelial growth factor
(VEGF) mRNA production.
Results.
Curcumin effectively inhibited endothelial cell proliferation in a
dose-dependent manner.
Curcumin and its derivatives demonstrated significant
inhibition of bFGF-mediated corneal neovascularization in the mouse. Curcumin
had no effect on phorbol ester-stimulated VEGF production.
Conclusions.
These results indicate that curcumin has direct antiangiogenic activity in vitro
and in vivo.
The activity of curcumin in inhibiting carcinogenesis in diverse
organs such as the skin and colon may be mediated in part through angiogenesis
inhibition.
PMID:
10780880 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Source:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=10780880&dopt=Abstract
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