Curcumin, a polyphenolic compound derived from dietary spice turmeric, possesses diverse pharmacologic effects including anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antiproliferative and antiangiogenic activities. Phase I clinical trials have shown that curcumin is safe even at high doses (12 g/day) in humans but exhibit poor bioavailability. Major reasons contributing to the low plasma and tissue levels of curcumin appear to be due to poor absorption, rapid metabolism, and rapid systemic elimination. To improve the bioavailability of curcumin, numerous approaches have been undertaken. These approaches involve, first, the use of adjuvant like piperine that interferes with glucuronidation; second, the use of liposomal curcumin; third, curcumin nanoparticles; fourth, the use of curcumin phospholipid complex; and fifth, the use of structural analogues of curcumin (e.g., EF-24). The latter has been reported to have a rapid absorption with a peak plasma half-life. Despite the lower bioavailability, therapeutic efficacy of...

Bioavailability of curcumin: problems and promises.

Curcumin (diferuloylmethane) is a polyphenol derived from the plant Curcuma longa, commonly called turmeric. Extensive research over the last 50 years has indicated this polyphenol can both prevent and treat cancer. The anticancer potential of curcumin stems from its ability to suppress proliferation of a wide variety of tumor cells, down-regulate transcription factors NF- κB, AP-1 and Egr-1; down-regulate the expression of COX2, LOX, NOS, MMP-9, uPA, TNF, chemokines, cell surface adhesion molecules and cyclin D1; down-regulate growth factor receptors (such as EGFR and HER2); and inhibit the activity of c-Jun N-terminal kinase, protein tyrosine kinases and protein serine/threonine kinases. In several systems, curcumin has been described as a potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent. Evidence has also been presented to suggest that curcumin can suppress tumor initiation, promotion and metastasis. Pharmacologically, curcumin has been found to be safe. Human clinical trials indicated no dose-limiting toxicity when administered at doses up to 10 g/day. All of these studies suggest that curcumin has enormous potential in the prevention and therapy of cancer. The current review describes in detail the data supporting these studies. Curcumin, derived from turmeric (vernacular name: Haldi), is a rhizome of the plant Curcuma longa. The medicinal use of this plant has been documented in Ayurveda (the Indian

Anticancer potential of curcumin: preclinical and clinical studies.

Curcumin as “Curecumin”: From kitchen to clinic

Curcumin: The story so far

Potential Therapeutic Effects of Curcumin, the Anti-inflammatory Agent, Against Neurodegenerative, Cardiovascular, Pulmonary, Metabolic, Autoimmune and Neoplastic Diseases

The medicinal properties of curcumin obtained from Curcuma longa L. cannot be utilised because of poor bioavailability due to its rapid metabolism in the liver and intestinal wall. In this study, the effect of combining piperine, a known inhibitor of hepatic and intestinal glucuronidation, was evaluated on the bioavailability of curcumin in rats and healthy human volunteers. When curcumin was given alone, in the dose 2 g/kg to rats, moderate serum concentrations were achieved over a period of 4 h. Concomitant administration of piperine 20 mg/kg increased the serum concentration of curcumin for a short period of 1-2 h post drug. Time to maximum was significantly increased (P < 0.02) while elimination half life and clearance significantly decreased (P < 0.02), and the bioavailability was increased by 154%. On the other hand in humans after a dose of 2 g curcumin alone, serum levels were either undetectable or very low. Concomitant administration of piperine 20 mg produced much higher concentrations from 0.25 to 1 h post drug (P < 0.01 at 0.25 and 0.5 h; P < 0.001 at 1 h), the increase in bioavailability was 2000%. The study shows that in the dosages used, piperine enhances the serum concentration, extent of absorption and bioavailability of curcumin in both rats and humans with no adverse effects.

Influence of Piperine on the Pharmacokinetics of Curcumin in Animals and Human Volunteers

Pharmacotherapy in critically ill is complicated by altered physiology, presence of multi organ system failure and utilization of multiple medications. The present study assessed the utilization pattern of gastrointestinal drugs among the inpatients of the intensive care unit. This prospective study was carried out in medical intensive care unit (ICU) of a tertiary care hospital. Case records of all inpatients of ICU were reviewed over a period of 12 months. The demographic data, clinical data, and drug details were recorded. Descriptive statistics was carried out, values are expressed as percentage, mean + SD and range. Of the 728 inpatients, a total of 695 patients received gastrointestinal drugs. Male to female ratio was 1:9. The mean age was 49.2115.84 years with a range of 18-90 years. Drugs for gastrointestinal system and drug metabolism (ATC-A) (23.3%) were most commonly utilized drug class of all the drugs prescribed in the ICU. Among the anti-peptic ulcer agents, pantoprazole (A02BC02) (87%) and ranitidine (A02BA02) (9.7%) were the frequently prescribed drugs. Metoclopramide (A03FA01) (19.5%) was the most frequent prokinetic agent and ondansetron (A04AA01) (15%) anti-emetic agents. Lactulose (A06AD11) (11.7%) was the most common laxative given while Glycopyrrolate (A03BA01) (6.3%) most frequent anti-secretory agent prescribed. Gastrointestinal drugs were the widely prescribed drug class among the critically ill prescribed both as prophylactic as well as therapeutic indications. Proton pump inhibitors were the acid suppressant therapy of choice, which require revision based on its recent findings on safety and efficacy in critically ill.

https://journals.ju.edu.jo/JJPS/article/download/5063/3381

Utilization Profile of Gastrointestinal Medications among the Critically Ill Patients of A Tertiary Care Hospital

This article proposes that a charging station for electric vehicles (EV) should be provided with three grid sources and battery energy storage (BES). It operates in both stand-alone and grid-connected circumstances. An AC/DC converter provides the power grid for an EV charging station via DC/DC converters with continuous and consistent energy. BES is utilized for storing additional energy under low-demand conditions. The converter plays a major role through the grid-linked EV system. This article, therefore, proposes to extract the electricity from the PV array from a DC-DC LUO converter. Furthermore, a grey wolf optimizer (GWO) based methodology controls the suggested converter. Since the basic frequency of the voltage source inverter (VSI) is obtained by electronic switching, losses resulting from using the high frequency of switching are removed. However, the profit ratio is compared by THD of the proposed system with the SEPIC converter that uses GWO-PI. Finally, MATLAB/Simulink software simulates and validates the proposed system. 

Guido Shoba

Papers

Influence of Piperine on the Pharmacokinetics of Curcumin in Animals and Human Volunteers

Utilization Profile of Gastrointestinal Medications among the Critically Ill Patients of A Tertiary Care Hospital

Battery charge controller using LUO converter for three phase grid tied electric vehicle system