Curcumin as a potential therapeutic candidate for Helicobacter pylori associated diseases

Figure 1 Structure of curcuminoids: Curcumin I, II and III. Adapted from Park et al[75]. New perspectives of curcumin in cancer prevention.

Figure 2 Role of curcumin in Helicobacter pylori infection. Important properties of curcumin which probably helps host cells in H. pylori infection are anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-carcinogenic. Other than its direct anti-H. pylori effect (anti-microbial) curcumin inhibits H. pylori induced NF-κB, AICD, IL-8, MMP-3 and MMP-9 in host epithelial cells and thereby protects from inflammatory response (may sometime leads to host cell apoptosis). MMPs: Matrix metalloproteinases; IL: Interleukin; H. pylori: Helicobacter pylori; NF-κB: Nuclear factor-κB; AICD: Activation induced cytidine deaminase.