10 Turmeric EO Arthritis
10 Turmeric EO Arthritis
10 Turmeric EO Arthritis
Department of Medicine, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85724 and Department of Medicinal
Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66045
Turmeric (Curcuma longa L., Zingiberaceae) rhizomes contain two classes of secondary metabolites, curcuminoids and the less well-studied essential oils. Having previously identified potent
anti-arthritic effects of the curcuminoids in turmeric extracts in an animal model of rheumatoid
arthritis (RA), studies were undertaken to determine whether the turmeric essential oils (TEO) were
also joint protective using the same experimental model. Crude or refined TEO extracts dramatically
inhibited joint swelling (90-100% inhibition) in female rats with streptococcal cell wall (SCW)induced arthritis when extracts were administered via intraperitoneal injection to maximize uniform
delivery. However, this anti-arthritic effect was accompanied by significant morbidity and mortality.
Oral administration of a 20-fold higher dose TEO was nontoxic, but only mildly joint-protective (20%
inhibition). These results do not support the isolated use of TEO for arthritis treatment but, instead,
identify potential safety concerns in vertebrates exposed to TEO.
KEYWORDS: Curcuma longa L.; turmeric; essential oil; arthritis; rheumatoid arthritis; liver; anemia
INTRODUCTION
pubs.acs.org/JAFC
Article
indeed effective anti-arthritic agents using an animal model of
rheumatoid arthritis (RA), streptococcal cell wall (SCW)-induced
arthritis. Because we previously used this model to characterize
anti-inflammatory properties of essential-oil free, curcuminoidcontaining turmeric extracts (3,4), these experiments also allowed
us to compare the relative in vivo anti-inflammatory efficacy of
each of turmerics two major classes of secondary metabolites.
Moreover, our isolation and in vivo testing of two complex TEO
extracts, a crude hexane extract and a curcuminoid-stripped,
refined fraction of the crude TEO extract, also allowed for
clarification of the independent role of the essential oils (vs
curcuminoids) in preventing intra-articular inflammation.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
843
844
Funk et al.
Article
845
non-arthritic
gene type
cytokine
chemokines
complement cascade
arachidonic acid metabolism
c
arthritic
gene
vehicle
TEO
SCW
IL-1beta
GRO/KC
MCP-1
properdin
MBL serine peptidase
COX-2
1.4 ( 0.3
1.0 ( 0.1
1.4 ( 0.6
1.0 ( 0.1
0.9 ( 0.1
1.6 ( 0.3
1.6 ( 0.3
1.6 ( 0.8
0.7 0.3
1.0 ( 0.3
1.2 ( 0.2
1.4 ( 0.6
21.1 6.5b
54.9 11.9d
12.0 7.9
8.1 ( 2.8b
6.5 ( 2.0b
10.3 ( 3.2b
SCW TEO
2.7 ( 0.3c
1.7 0.6e
0.4 0.1
1.0 ( 0.1c
0.9 ( 0.2c
1.9 ( 0.2c
a
Values are expressed as fold change from normal vehicle-treated animals (mean ( SEM for n = 3 samples/group with 3 joints combined per sample). b p < 0.05 vs vehicle.
p < 0.01 vs SCW. d p < 0.001 vs vehicle. e p < 0.001 vs SCW.
7.2 ( 0.4
16.0 ( 1.5
0% (0/23)
41.8 ( 0.8
0.18 ( 0.01
crude
10.1 ( 1.2
40.3 13.7
22% (4/18)d
31.3 ( 3.2g
0.21 ( 0.02
arthritic animals
refined
7.4 ( 0.5
24.6 ( 2.0
10% (3/29)
36.1 ( 1.4g
0.22 ( 0.02
SCW vehicle
SCW crude
SCW refined
68% (34/50)
23.7 ( 2.5c
9.5 ( 1.0
0% (0/25)
32.3 ( 1.2c
0.17 ( 0.02
15% (4/26)
13.6 ( 1.5d,e
64.6 ( 41.3
20% (3/15)d
33.7 ( 2.3d
0.15 ( 0.01
41% (7/17)
18.0 ( 1.4c,f
12.9 ( 1.4
0% (0/21)
32.1 ( 1.4c
0.015 ( 0.01
a
Data, obtained from animals surviving one month of treatment with g28 mg/kg/d TEO (or vehicle) (n = 15-29/group), are expressed as mean ( SEM with statistical
significance determined by ANOVA with post-hoc testing or Fishers test, as appropriate. bp < 0.0001 vs (SCW vehicle). cp < 0.001 vs vehicle. dp < 0.05 vs vehicle. ep < 0.01 vs
(SCW vehicle). fp < 0.01 vs (SCW vehicle). gp < 0.01 vs vehicle.
846
Funk et al.
Figure 4. Hepatotoxicity and anemia associated with ip vs oral TEO. (A) Effects of ip treatment (g26 mg/kg/d) with crude TEO (n = 32) or refined TEO (n =
54) vs vehicle alone (n = 48) on serum levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) were determined in SCW or control animals surviving 23-32 days of
treatment. Means are not statistically different by ANOVA. (B) Effects of ip treatment with crude TEO (n = 18) or refined TEO (n = 37) vs vehicle alone (n = 29)
on hemacrit (HCT) were determined in control animals surviving 23-32 days of treatment. p < 0.001, crude vs vehicle. p < 0.01, refined vs vehicle. (C) Effects
of oral treatment (>560 mg/kg/d) with crude TEO (n = 34) or refined TEO (n = 5) vs vehicle alone (n = 23) on serum levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT)
were determined in SCW or control animals surviving 28-32 days of treatment. p < 0.01, refined vs vehicle. (D) Effects of oral treatment (>560 mg/kg/d) with
crude TEO (n = 11) or refined TEO (n = 5) vs vehicle alone (n = 6) on HCT were determined in control animals surviving 28-32 days of treatment. p < 0.01,
crude vs vehicle.
Figure 5. Time course of adverse effects of ip treatment with refined TEO on liver and hematopoetic parameters. In normal female Lewis rats, the effect of daily
ip treatment with 28 mg/kg/d refined TEO vs vehicle was determined over a 23-day period. Animals (n = 3 vehicle and n = 4 TEO) were sacrificed at the
indicated times for the assessment of hematologic parameters (hematocrit (HCT), total white blood cell (WBC), and platelet (PLT) counts) and liver function
(serum levels of alanine aminotransferase) as well as gross necropsy, which was notable for peritonitis, beginning as early as day 8. Results are presented as
mean ( SEM.
Article
56 mg /kg/d ip). Anemia (Figure 5A) and elevations in ALT
(Figure 5B) began at 2 weeks, a time coincident with the onset of
mortality in arthritis treatment experiments (Figure 3), thus
suggesting possible causality. While elevations in circulating
leukocytes (WBC) (Table 2) and platelets (PLT) (data not shown)
were not detected in nonarthritic animals surviving one month of
TEO treatment, both of these indicators of systemic inflammation began to increase after 2 weeks of TEO administration
(Figure 5C,D), consistent with an inflammatory response to ip
administration of the essential oils.
Evidence of occult gastrointestinal bleeding as a cause of
anemia was sought in animals treated with g28 mg/kg/d TEO
vs vehicle. On random screening, occult blood was documented in
the stools of 38% of crude TEO-treated animals (n = 16, p < 0.05
vs vehicle (9% incidence, n = 22)) and 19% of those treated with
refined TEO (n = 32, p > 0.05 (nonsignificant)). Necropsies performed after 2-4 weeks of treatment with TEO g 28 mg/kg/d
(n = 2, crude TEO; n = 4, refined TEO) were notable for signs of
mild to moderate peritonitis, including evidence of a small
intestine perforation in one crude TEO treated animal. In contrast, vehicle-treated animals (n = 2) had no peritonitis, and
necropsies were only notable for granulomatous lesions in
the liver in those animals also injected with SCW. There was
no evidence of renal toxicity on necropsy. In sum, effective
anti-arthritic doses of both TEOs, when administered ip, were
also associated with peritonitis, gastrointestinal bleeding with
anemia, and hepatocellular damage.
Oral TEO Extract Dosing: Toxicity and Anti-Inflammatory
Effects. The above findings beg the question of whether the toxic
effects of both TEOs were specific to their ip route of administration. Additionally, it is possible that the anti-inflammatory
effects of TEO when administered ip were nonspecific and
simply due to TEO-induced peritonitis inducing tolerance to
the SCW (28). To address both questions, oral TEO dosing
studies were undertaken. TEO doses (560 mg/kg/d) 20-fold higher
than the lowest effective ip doses of crude or refined TEO were
arbitrarily chosen for testing since minimal information is available regarding oral absorption and biodisposition of essential
oils or their terpene components (27). No mortality (data not
shown), evidence of hepatocellular damage (Figure 4C), anemia
(Figure 4D), or occult gastrointestinal bleeding (n = 4-5 animals
screened per treatment) occurred after one month of daily oral
administration of crude or refined TEO. No peritonitis was seen
on necropsy (n = 1 animal per treatment). However, proteus bacteria were detected in the abdominal cavity of the crude TEO
treated animals examined, suggesting the possibility of an otherwise undetected intestinal perforation vs accidental specimen
contamination.
Having verified the relative absence of toxicity with oral (vs ip)
administration of TEOs, the oral anti-inflammatory activity of
crude TEO, the extract having the greatest range of articular and
extra-articular anti-inflammatory effects when administered ip,
was assessed in the SCW model. Oral treatment with crude TEO
(520 mg/kg/d), begun prior to SCW administration (Figure 6A) or
after the peak of acute joint inflammation (Figure 6B), decreased
joint swelling at every time point. This anti-inflammatory effect,
when analyzed on a daily basis, was only statistically significant at
the start of pretreatment (Figure 6A, day 1). However, assessment
of joint inflammation by analysis of the area under the curve
(AUC) during the entire course of TEO treatment demonstrated a
relatively modest but statistically significant 21% inhibition of
joint swelling in response to early or delayed oral crude TEO
treatment (p < 0.02 vs vehicle). In contrast to this joint protective
effect of oral crude TEO and in contradistinction to the articular
and extra-articular anti-inflammatory effects of this extract when
847
administered ip, SCW-induced leukocytosis or hepatic granulomatous inflammation was unaltered by oral crude TEO (data
not shown).
In sum, oral crude TEO, at a dose that would correspond
to 5000 mg/d in humans after correcting for body surface
area (29), has a modest anti-inflammatory effect in rats that
was limited to the joints and appeared to be specific in that it
was not associated with evidence of significant concurrent
toxicity. However, the clinical relevance of this finding is unclear
given the magnitude of the dose required to achieve a relatively
848
Funk et al.
(9)
(10)
(11)
(12)
(13)
(14)
(15)
(16)
(17)
(18)
(19)
LITERATURE CITED
(1) Pichersky, E.; Gang, D. R. Genetics and biochemistry of secondary
metabolites in plants: an evolutionary perspective. Trends Plant Sci.
2000, 5, 439445.
(2) Lantz, R. C.; Chen, G. J.; Solyom, A. M.; Jolad, S. D.; Timmermann,
B. N. The effect of turmeric extracts on inflammatory mediator
production. Phytomedicine 2005, 12, 445452.
(3) Funk, J. L.; Frye, J. B.; Oyarzo, J. N.; Kuscuoglu, N.; Wilson, J.;
McCaffrey, G.; Stafford, G.; Chen, G.; Lantz, R. C.; Jolad, S. D.;
Solyom, A. M.; Kiela, P. R.; Timmermann, B. N. Efficacy and
mechanism of action of turmeric supplements in the treatment of
experimental arthritis. Arthritis Rheum. 2006, 54, 34523464.
(4) Funk, J. L.; Oyarzo, J. N.; Frye, J. B.; Chen, G.; Lantz, R. C.; Jolad,
S. D.; Solyom, A. M.; Timmermann, B. N. Turmeric extracts
containing curcuminoids prevent experimental rheumatoid arthritis.
J. Nat. Prod. 2006, 69, 351355.
(5) Chainani-Wu, N. Safety and anti-inflammatory activity of curcumin: a component of tumeric (Curcuma longa). J. Altern. Complementary Med. 2003, 9, 161168.
(6) Apisariyakul, A.; Vanittanakom, N.; Buddhasukh, D. Antifungal
activity of turmeric oil extracted from Curcuma longa
(Zingiberaceae). J. Ethnopharmacol. 1995, 49, 163169.
(7) Roth, G. N.; Chandra, A.; Nair, M. G. Novel bioactivities of
Curcuma longa constituents. J. Nat. Prod. 1998, 61, 542545.
(8) Ferreira, L. A.; Henriques, O. B.; Andreoni, A. A.; Vital, G. R.;
Campos, M. M.; Habermehl, G. G.; de Moraes, V. L. Antivenom
(20)
(21)
(22)
(23)
(24)
(25)
Article
(26) Solomon, S.; Kassahn, D.; Illges, H. The role of the complement and
the Fc gamma R system in the pathogenesis of arthritis. Arthritis Res.
Ther. 2005, 7, 129135.
(27) Kohlert, C.; van Rensen, I.; Marz, R.; Schindler, G.; Graefe, E. U.;
Veit, M. Bioavailability and pharmacokinetics of natural volatile
terpenes in animals and humans. Planta Med. 2000, 66, 495505.
(28) Kobayashi, K. S.; Flavell, R. A. Shielding the double-edged sword:
negative regulation of the innate immune system. J. Leukocyte Biol.
2004, 75, 428433.
(29) Freireich, E. J.; Gehan, E. A.; Rall, D. P.; Schmidt, L. H.; Skipper,
H. E. Quantitative comparison of toxicity of anticancer agents in
mouse, rat, hamster, dog, monkey, and man. Cancer Chemother.
Rep. 1966, 50, 219244.
849
(30) Antony, B.; Merina, B.; Iyer, V. S.; Judy, N.; Lennertz, K.; Joyal, S.
A pilot cross-over study to evaluate human oral bioavailability of
BCM-95 CG (Biocurcumax), a novel bioenhanced preparation of
curcumin. Indian J. Pharm. Sci. 2008, 70, 445449.
Received for review September 21, 2009. Revised manuscript received
November 17, 2009. Accepted November 23, 2009. This work was
supported by the Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS) and the
National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
(NCCAM of the NIH (5 P50 AT000474). The contents are solely the
responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official
views of the NCCAM, ODS or NIH.