Effect of curcumin on glucose absorption: an experimental study on albino rats

Curcumin derived from the rhizome Curcuma longa is one of the primary ingredient in turmeric. Turmeric is used frequently as food additive in Asia, specially the Indian subcontinent. The daily intake of turmeric in the diet may therefore expose the gut to curcumin and affect its physiological functions, including the absorption of nutrients from small intestine. However, no published reports are available on the effect curcumin on absorption of nutrients from small intestine. To explore this possibility, transport of glucose from small intestine was studied in adult albino rats following feeding the animals curcumin intragastrically for five consecutive days. The controls were fed simultaneously, the vehicular fluid intragastrically in the identical volume. Transport of glucose from small intestine was studied using everted sac technique of Wilson and Wiseman (1954) on animals fasted for 16-20 hrs. Everted sacs were prepared from both jejunal and ileal portion of small intestine. Observations showed a significant increase in glucose transport from jejunal and upper ileal portion of small intestine suggesting that curcumin does influence the transport of nutrients from the gut.