Sunday Nov 10, 2013 (foodconsumer.org) -- Taking curcumin dietary supplements or eating lots of curry may help prevent fatty liver, suggests a study in European Review for Medical and Pharmacological Sciences.

O.H. Kang from Wonkwang University, Wonkwang Oriental Medicines Research Institute, Institute of Biotechnology in Iksan, Jeonbuk, Republic of Korea and colleagues conducted the study and found the therapeutic effect of curcumin.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is one common symptom of metabolic syndrome and characterized by the accumulation of hepatic triglycerides.  Dietary fat and sugars can increase the risk of fatty liver.

Curcumin is found in turmeric, which is the ingredient in curry that brings the seasoning the orange color.  Curcumin has already been known to prevent obesity and diabetes mellitus in animal studies and human trials.  It is one of the healthiest foods anyone can eat.

The current study was intended to examine the hypolipidemic effect of curcumin in oleic acid- induced hepatocarcinoma cells.

In the laboratory study, hepatocytes were treated with oleic acid blended with or without curcumin. In the HepG2 cells, curcumin was also tested to see how it affects triglycerides and total cholesterol.  Measured were also some other biochemical parameters.

Curcumin was found to suppress oleic acid induced lipid accumulation and lower triglycerides and total cholesterol levels.   Besides, the study demonstrated that curcumin decreased hepatic lipogenesis which reduced the fat accumulation on the liver.

The study concluded "These results indicated that curcumin has the same ability to activate AMPK and then reduce SREBP-1, and FAS expression, finally leading to inhibit hepatic lipogenesis and hepatic antioxidative ability."

"In this report, we found curcumin exerted a regulatory effect on lipid accumulation by decreasing lipogenesis in hepatocyte. Therefore, curcumin extract may be active in the prevention of fatty liver." (David Liu, PHD)