Curcumin for malaria therapy

Raju C, Reddy and Palakkodu G, Vatsala and Venkateshwar G, Keshamouni and Govindarajan, Padmanaban and Pundi N, Rangarajan (2005) Curcumin for malaria therapy. In: Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 326 (2). pp. 472-474.

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Abstract

Malaria remains a major global health concern. New, inexpensive, and effective antimalarial agents are urgently needed. Here we show that curcumin, a polyphenolic organic molecule derived from turmeric, inhibits chloroquine-resistant Plasmodium falciparum growth in culture in a dose dependent manner with an $IC_{50}$ of not, vert, similar $\sim 5 \mu M$. Additionally, oral administration of curcumin to mice infected with malaria parasite (Plasmodium berghei) reduces blood parasitemia by 80–90% and enhances their survival significantly. Thus, curcumin may represent a novel treatment for malarial infection.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications
Publisher:	Elsevier
Additional Information:	Copyright of this article belongs to Elsevier.
Keywords:	Curcumin;Malaria;Plasmodium;Artemisinin
Department/Centre:	Division of Biological Sciences > Biochemistry
Date Deposited:	25 Apr 2007
Last Modified:	19 Sep 2010 04:37
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/10566

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