Curcumin: Natural COX-2 Inhibitors' Promise

Natural COX-2 Inhibitors' Promise
While COX-2 inhibition may seem to clearly describe one pharmacological effect of several common and widely recognized natural products, such a benefit cannot be confirmed until each is systematically tested for such activity. However, the odds seem in favor of the following compounds serving as natural modulators of pain.

Curcumin is one of the pungent active ingredients of turmeric (Curcuma longa), the deep-yellow powder found in virtually every curry dish made in the world. Besides being a culinary delight, several clinical trials have found curcumin to be a notable anti-inflammatory and analgesic compound.9 Moreover, recent in vitro studies have explored whether curcumin, a chemopreventive agent, inhibits the expression and activity of COX-2 in several different gastrointestinal cell lines: colon, esophagus and small intestine.10

In one study, Fan Zhang, Ph.D., and colleagues from the Cornell University campus in New York City, exposed gastrointestinal (GI) cells to two known tumor promoters, either bile acids (BA) or phorbol esters (PMA). The team found COX-2 to be induced in several of the cell lines, accompanied by a 10-fold increase in the synthesis of inflammatory-causing prostaglandin E2.10

However, dose-dependent treatment of the cells with curcumin suppressed both BA- and PMA-mediated induction of COX-2 protein, genetic COX-2 expression (as measured by mRNA), and the synthesis of prostaglandin E2. Most impressive, however, was the discovery that curcumin directly inhibited the enzymatic activity of COX-2.

Although the Zhang study did not examine the action of curcumin on cells mediating chronic joint inflammation, it does offer a provocative suggestion that curcumin may modulate chronic inflammatory GI events such as Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.

An additional study presented at the 1999 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) conference also examined the pain-relieving properties of curcumin. Researchers at the University of California, San Diego, and the Veterans Administration Medical Center, San Diego, investigated whether curcumin could suppress COX-2 expression in human colon cancer cells.11

After exposing such cells to curcumin, the researchers found the compound not only inhibited cell growth but also reduced the expression of COX-2 mRNA in a time- and dose-dependent manner.11

Therefore, curcumin would appear to be a safe, natural COX-2 inhibitor in humans, given its safety profiles and demonstrated anti-inflammatory activity.


I have been taking Curcumin now for about two and half months. At first I didn't see much difference. After taking it for some time, when I run out I notice a marked difference in my pain levels with my tendonitis. Before I could hardly do anything without pain. Now I can do almost anything I want except gripping & lifting at the same time. However the pain with this is far less than what I had before. It costs me about $20 a month. I take four first thing in the morning and one at noon or dinner time.