Curry's curcumin may stem liver damage

ST. LOUIS, Nov. 2 (UPI) -- Curcumin -- a chemical found in the spice turmeric -- may help slow damage from fatty liver disease, U.S. researchers say.

Researchers at Saint Louis University in Missouri say turmeric -- one of the spices that gives Indian curries zing -- is also an ingredient in Chinese medicinals.

The study, published in Endocrinology, suggests curcumin may counter a liver disease associated with obesity -- called non-alcoholic steatohepatitis -- that can cause a type of damage called liver fibrosis and possibly cirrhosis, liver cancer and death.

"My laboratory studies the molecular mechanism of liver fibrosis," corresponding author Anping Chen said in a statement. "While research in an animal model and human clinical trials are needed, our study suggests that curcumin may be an effective therapy to treat and prevent liver fibrosis, which is associated with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis."

Chen and colleagues found leptin -- a complex hormone made up of proteins -- plays a critical role in the development of liver fibrosis. High levels of leptin activate hepatic stellate cells in the liver -- cells causing the overproduction of the collagen protein that characterizes liver fibrosis.

However, the researchers found one curcumin eliminates the effects of leptin on hepatic stellate cells and stops the formation of fibrosis.