Targeting endothelial cells with golden spice curcumin: A promising therapy for cardiometabolic multimorbidity

Area of Science:

• Cardiovascular Research
• Pharmacology
• Nutraceuticals

Background:

• Cardiometabolic multimorbidity (CMM) involves multiple diseases like hypertension, stroke, heart disease, atherosclerosis, and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).
• Endothelial dysfunction, characterized by oxidative stress, inflammation, and abnormal nitric oxide (NO) bioavailability, is central to CMM development.
• Targeting endothelial cells offers a promising strategy for preventing and treating CMM.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the therapeutic potential of curcumin for CMM.
• To explore curcumin's molecular targets and mechanisms of action on endothelial cells.
• To discuss the clinical translation challenges and future prospects of curcumin for CMM.

Main Methods:

• Comprehensive literature review of curcumin's properties and therapeutic applications in CMM.
• Analysis of studies investigating curcumin's molecular targets (e.g., NF-κB, MAPK, HO-1, NOs, VEGF, ICAM-1, ROS).
• Evaluation of curcumin's pharmacokinetics, pharmaceutics, and clinical evidence for CMM treatment.

Main Results:

• Curcumin demonstrates multi-targeted and multi-pathway interactions with endothelial cells.
• It effectively regulates endothelial function by mitigating oxidative stress, inflammation, and improving NO bioavailability.
• Identified molecular targets include NF-κB/PI3K/AKT, MAPK/NF-κB/IL-1β, HO-1, NOs, VEGF, ICAM-1, and ROS.

Conclusions:

• Curcumin shows significant therapeutic promise for CMM management due to its endothelial protective effects.
• As a natural compound, curcumin represents a novel lead for developing effective CMM treatments.
• Further clinical research is needed to overcome challenges and realize curcumin's full therapeutic potential in CMM.