Turmeric (Curcumin) extract suppresses fat tissue growth in rodent models

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Turmeric extract suppresses fat tissue growth in rodent models

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-05/tuhs-tes051809.php

Curcumin, the major polyphenol found in turmeric, appears to reduce weight gain

in mice and suppress the growth of fat tissue in mice and cell models.

Researchers at the Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at

Tufts University (USDA HNRCA) studied mice fed high fat diets supplemented with

curcumin and cell cultures incubated with curcumin.

" Weight gain is the result of the growth and expansion of fat tissue, which

cannot happen unless new blood vessels form, a process known as angiogenesis. "

said senior author Mohsen Meydani, DVM, PhD, director of the Vascular Biology

Laboratory at the USDA HNRCA. " Based on our data, curcumin appears to suppress

angiogenic activity in the fat tissue of mice fed high fat diets. "

Meydani continued, " It is important to note, we don't know whether these results

can be replicated in humans because, to our knowledge, no studies have been

done. "

Turmeric is known for providing flavor to curry. One of its components is

curcumin, a type of phytochemical known as a polyphenol. Research findings

suggest that phytochemicals, which are the chemicals found in plants, appear to

help prevent disease. As the bioactive component of turmeric, curcumin is

readily absorbed for use by the body.

Meydani and colleagues studied mice fed high fat diets for 12 weeks. The high

fat diet of one group was supplemented with 500 mg of curcumin/ kg diet; the

other group consumed no curcumin. Both groups ate the same amount of food,

indicating curcumin did not affect appetite, but mice fed the curcumin

supplemented diet did not gain as much weight as mice that were not fed

curcumin.

" Curcumin appeared to be responsible for total lower body fat in the group that

received supplementation, " said Meydani, who is also a professor at the Friedman

School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts. " In those mice, we observed a

suppression of microvessel density in fat tissue, a sign of less blood vessel

growth and thus less expansion of fat. We also found lower blood cholesterol

levels and fat in the liver of those mice. In general, angiogenesis and an

accumulation of lipids in fat cells contribute to fat tissue growth. "

Writing in the May 2009 issue of the Journal of Nutrition, the authors note

similar results in cell cultures. Additionally, curcumin appeared to interfere

with expression of two genes, which contributed to angiogenesis progression in

both cell and rodent models.

" Again, based on this data, we have no way of telling whether curcumin could

prevent fat tissue growth in humans. " Meydani said. " The mechanism or mechanisms

by which curcumin appears to affect fat tissue must be investigated in a

randomized, clinical trial involving humans. "