Potential protective roles of curcumin against cadmium-induced toxicity and oxidative stress

ABSTRACT

Curcumin, used as a spice and traditional medicine in India, exerts beneficial effects against several diseases, owing to its antioxidant, analgesic, and anti-inflammatory properties. Evidence indicates that curcumin might protect against heavy metal-induced organ toxicity by targeting biological pathways involved in anti-oxidation, anti-inflammation, and anti-tumorigenesis. Curcumin has received considerable attention owing to its therapeutic properties, and the mechanisms underlying some of its actions have been recently investigated. Cadmium (Cd) is a heavy metal found in the environment and used extensively in industries. Chronic Cd exposure induces damage to bones, liver, kidneys, lungs, testes, and the immune and cardiovascular systems. Because of its long half-life, exposure to even low Cd levels might be harmful. Cd-induced toxicity involves the overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS), resulting in oxidative stress and damage to essential biomolecules. Dietary antioxidants, such as chelating agents, display the potential to reduce Cd accumulation and metal-induced toxicity. Curcumin scavenges ROS and inhibits oxidative damage, thus resulting in many therapeutic properties. This review aims to address the effectiveness of curcumin against Cd-induced organ toxicity and presents evidence supporting the use of curcumin as a protective antioxidant.

KEYWORDS:

• Cadmium
• target organ toxicity
• curcumin
• antioxidant
• anti-inflammation

Declaration of competing interests

We confirm that there are no conflicts of interest associated with this publication, and there has been no significant financial support for this study that could have influenced its outcome.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grants funded by the Korean Government [grant numbers: NRF-2019R1A4A2001451, NRF-2019R1A2C2002923]