Both the Indian spice tumeric and curcumin (the most active chemical part of tumeric) are anti-oxidants. Anti-oxidants, chemicals that reduce free radicals, are widely used to try to prevent cancer. These investigators look at whether tumeric and curcumin changed the amount of chromosome damage caused by gamma radiation. Chinese hamster ovary cells were treated with three doses of each drug. The doses were; turmeric (100, 250, and 500 micrograms per milliliter) and curcumin (2.5, 5, and 10 micrograms per milliliter). Then they exposed the cells to radiation (2.5 grays) during different phases of the cell cycle. By itself, turmeric did not increase chromosomal damage. In contrast, curcumin, at 10 micrograms per milliliter, increased the frequency of chromosomal damage. Neither treatment protected the cells from the chromosomal damage caused by radiation. Instead, they found an obvious increase in chromosome abnormalities when two of the doses were combined with radiation. The abnormalities were increased when cells were treated with 500 microg/ml turmeric and radiation during G2/S phase of the cell cycle. The chromosomal abnormalities were also increased with 10 microg/ml curcumin plus radiation during S and G2/S phases. These are the parts of the cycle when DNA is replicated and the cell is prepared for division. The results clearly showed that tumeric and curcumin worsened the damage caused by radiation. They suggest that these treatments can boost the harmful effects of radiation depending on the experimental conditions
Potentiation by turmeric and curcumin of gamma-rad…[Teratog Carcinog Mutagen. 1999]