Purpose.Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) has been proposed to exert pharmacological benefits by its antioxidative and anti-inflammatory\r\neffects. HO-1 expression may be affected by the GT length polymorphism in the promoter region of the HO-1 gene.We investigated\r\nthe inducibility of HO-1 by orally administered curcumin in healthy male subjects and its correlation with the GT length\r\npolymorphism. Methods. In an open label uncontrolled phase-1 pilot study, ten male subjects received 12 g of oral curcumin. To\r\ninvestigate the effects of theGT length polymorphism on the inducibility ofHO-1, five subjectswith homozygous short and five with\r\nhomozygous long GT genotypes were studied. Plasma concentrations of curcumin, bilirubin, HO-1 mRNA, and protein expression\r\nin peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were analyzed over 48 hours. Results. At a detection limit of 1 ug/mL curcumin\r\ncould not be detected in plasma of any subject.Compared to baseline,HO-1mRNAand protein levelswere not induced inPBMCs at\r\nany time point up to 48 hours.There was no correlation between any of the parameters and GT length polymorphism. Conclusions.\r\nOral curcumin administration has low bioavailability and does not induce HO-1 on mRNA or protein level in PBMCs.
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