Kurkumin – može li postati ključan dio budućih terapija za HPV?

U Hrvatskoj se rak vrata maternice svaki dan dijagnosticira jednoj ženi, a svaki treći dan od njega jedna žena umre. Zbog učinkovite i pristupačne prevencije upravo je rak vrata maternice jedan od naših public health priorities.

Zdravstveni izazovi s kojima se čovječanstvo 21. stoljeća suočava su uz, karcinome i kardiovaskularne bolesti, izuzetna proširenost virusa. No, u ovom članku nećemo govoriti o najčešćoj temi naše današnjice (pandemija SARS-CoV-2 virusa) nego o human papillomavirus (HPV).

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HPV is the most common sexually transmitted virus among the human population

Tijekom života najmanje 50 % spolno aktivnih osoba inficirat će se HPV-om. HPV-infekcija obično prođe sama od sebe djelovanjem vlastitog imunološkog sustava. HPV is the most common sexually transmitted disease affecting 13% of the world's population¹ and unfortunately it still does not occupy enough media space that it "deserves", considering that according to previous reports, 34,800 new HPV-related cancers can be expected every year, if the spread of the infection is not prevented².

Od otprilike 200 poznatih tipova HPV-a – koji su najopasniji za nas?

Depending on your onkogenom potencijalu (the propensity of the virus to promote carcinogenic changes in our cells), HPV types are divided into niskorizične and high-risk types.

• • low-risk HPV infection is associated with the appearance of benign warts on the genital or anal area in both sexes, which are usually painless and without pronounced other symptoms, and can also lead to changes in the cervical mucosa that do not lead to cancerous changes, while

• • infekcija HPV-om visokog rizika povezana s abnormalnim promjenama u epitelu vrata maternice poznate kao cervikalna intraepitelna neoplazija (skraćenica: CIN). Kronična ili perzistirajuća HPV infekcija povećava rizik za razvojem raka vrata maternice i drugih karcinoma genitalnog ili analnog područja kod oba spola³. Postoji oko 15 visokorizičnih tipova HPV-a, od kojih su najvažniji/ najopasniji HPV 16 i HPV 18, koji su odgovorni za više od 70 % raka vrata maternice u žena ⁴.

Naime, HPV je u preko 98 % slučajeva uzročnik raka grlića maternice that's why it's known as „tihi ubojica”, since infected people are usually not aware of the presence of the virus, nor of the cancer that develops because of it, until it is too late to cure. On the other hand, current therapeutic approaches have certain limitations, therefore the development of new therapeutic platforms could optimize the outcome of the treatment of cancers related to the reproductive system.

Najznačajnije ljekovite biljke, koje se često koriste u antivirusnim tretmanima u Ayurveda medicini, unazad desetak godina često su predmet istraživačkih studija.

Curcumin – an ancient treasure of Ayurvedic medicine

Curcumin is the main bioactive ingredient of turmeric and has various therapeutic potentials, such as: antitumor^5,6, anti-atherosclerotic^7,8, antimicrobial, antiviral⁹, antioxidant¹⁰ i protuupalni^11–13. More than 300 clinical studies have confirmed its beneficial effects in various diseases, and we are particularly interested in its antiviral and anticarcinogenic effects in this topic.

Natural compounds such as curcumin have the ability to modulate some genetic and epigenetic mechanisms, which can increase the sensitivity of cancer cells to conventional drugs and thus inhibit tumor growth^14,15.

Curcumin has been found to have a wide variety of molecular targets, including some transcription factors, genetic modulators, kinases, growth factors, and cell membrane receptors.^16-20. Dakle, možemo reći da ovaj drevni sastojak ima svojstvo da nas na genetskoj razini štiti od razvoja neželjenih promjena na stanicama. Brojna istraživanja su pokazala da kurkumin djeluje kao beneficial auxiliary and chemopreventive means kod karcinoma²¹.What is extremely important: human studies have shown the tolerability, safety and anticarcinogenicity of this compound in humans^{22, 23}.

Curcumin, HPV and cervical cancer

Cervical cancer is the third most common malignancy and the fourth leading cause of cancer death in women²⁴. Nowadays, its frequency is increasing among younger women²⁵. Patients who are still in the early stages of the stage have a good prognosis and respond successfully to conventional treatments, including chemoradiation and/or surgery.²⁶. In a series of studies, curcumin shows chemotherapeutic action and chemopreventive effects²⁷. Nekoliko studija je dokazalo potencijalnu korist kurkumina u liječenju s monoterapijom (kada je korišten samo kurkumin) i u kombinaciji sa standardnim kemoterapeutskim lijekovima. Također zanimljivo – pokazalo se da kurkumin poboljšava učinkovitost trenutne terapije senzibiliziranjem otpornosti stanica raka na kemoradioterapiju, koja je bila velika prepreka u liječenju raka.

Studija znanstvenika Divya i Pillai iz 2006. godine imala je za cilj analizirati antitumorska i antivirusna svojstva kurkumina na stanice raka vrata maternice povezane s HPV-om. Their findings show that curcumin is cytotoxic to cervical cancer cells.Cytotoxic activity was selectively higher in cells infected with high-risk HPV types (types 16 and 18) compared to non-HPV-infected cells.²⁹.

The effects of curcumin in gynecological cancers show that its action is related to the activation of autophagy and apoptotic pathways and the inhibition of invasion and metastasis of carcinogenic cells in several types of tumors. Curcumin suppresses (suppresses) substances that promote inflammation (such as NF-κB and its gene "targets") and that play a significant role in controlling the invasion and metastasis of cancer cells²⁸.

The balance between proliferation (division) of tumor cells and spontaneous cell death through apoptosis played an important role in the regulation of tumor cell growth. Curcumin induced apoptosis in cervical cancer cells.Curcumin also selectively regulated the binding of AP-1, an indispensable (epithelial tissue-specific) component for efficient HPV gene expression. These results provide attractive data for the possible use of curcumin in the treatment of HPV-related tumors³⁰. Ghasemi i suradnici nedavno su proveli in vitro studiju za procjenu mehanizama povezanih s antikancerogenim učincima kurkumina na stanične linije raka vrata maternice te su još jednom potvrdili da kurkumin suzbija proliferaciju i invaziju stanica raka u vrat maternice³¹.

Nedavno je objavljeno da kurkumin pokazuje izuzetno „pametno“ djelovanje, naime on podiže unutarstanične razine reaktivnih kisikovih vrsta (engl. ROS, reactive oxygen species) in cervical cancer cells, but not in healthy epithelial cells.These ROS are free radicals that have a cytotoxic effect on cancer cells. These observations indicate that curcumin promotes apoptosis of cervical cancer cells by increasing the generation of ROS specific to that cell type³².

According to Yoysungnoen-Chintana's study report³³ koju su proveli na animalnom modelu, pokazano je da kurkumin inhibits angiogenesis kao i tumor growth.

What is extremely important is the safety and tolerability of curcumin, which has been proven in numerous clinical studies. From all the data and facts presented, we conclude that it is necessary to focus more studies on the active ingredients provided by nature, which have a great potential for use in the development of antiviral drugs of the future generation³⁴. In addition to the mentioned beneficial effects, curcumin therapy still faces certain limitations such as low bioavailability.

Bioavailability – the true measure of curcumin's potency

Bioraspoloživost nekog spoja označava udio primijenjenog aktivnog sastojka koji doseže u sistemsku cirkulaciju i pokazuje benefite za zdravlje korisnika. Budući da slaba bioraspoloživost limitira terapijsku korist kurkumina, napravljeni su brojni pokušaji kako bi se povećala njegova apsorpcija. Po ovom pitanju, najznačajniji doprinos bioraspoloživosti kurkumina, postigla je tvrtka AQUANOVA (Njemačka) koja je proizvela kurkumin u micelama (zaštićenog imena: NovaSOL® Curcumin).

Kako se to postiglo? Korištenjem fizikalnog procesa solubilization – kojim se omogućuje da kurkumin, koji je inače netopiv u vodi, postaje u vodi topiv. Bioraspoloživost ovog micelarnog oblika kurkumina dokazana je studijom iz 2014. godine³⁵ u kojoj je sudjelovalo 23 ljudska ispitanika gdje je dokazano da oblik solubilizata kurkumina u micelama pokazuje superior bioavailability u odnosu na ostale oblike kurkumina; konkretno imao je čak 185 puta veću bioraspoloživost od nativnog kurkumina which we find in turmeric powder. This important scientific and technological step opens up new horizons in the prevention and treatment of the biggest challenges of today's medicine.

Uz Curcumin Forte+ je snaga kurkumina na vašoj strani

Curcumin Forte+ contains a powerful synergy of the highly usable micellar form of curcumin (NovaSOL® Curcumin) and vitamin D, which contributes to normal immune function.That's right jedna Licaps® kapsula odgovara primjeni 5800 mg nativnog kurkumina, that is, approximately 232 grama praha kurkume. Curcumin Forte+ comes in Licaps® capsules that do not contain solvents, preservatives, gluten, starch, sugar, plasticizers, lactose, allergens and GMO ingredients. The product is intended for all people who want to contribute to a better immune function, a more correct process of cell division and function, and those who want to introduce a highly useful form of curcumin.

Hvala ti što si izdvojila/o vrijeme za čitanje ovog teksta! Ako ti se svidio, podijeli ovaj tekst s nekom dragom osobom za koju znaš da bi ga trebala pročitati kako bismo zajedno povećali svijest o koracima koje možemo poduzeti kako bi prevenirali širenje HPV-a te pojavu cervical cancer!

Sve podijeljene informacije temelje se na istraživanjima i činjenicama te ih preporučamo koristiti samo kao dodatak preporukama i službenoj dijagnozi Vašeg liječnika/ specijalista te nisu zamjena za liječničko mišljenje. Ukoliko Vi  i/ili Vaš partner/ica imate HPV, pozivamo Vas da se javite svojem gynecologist (žene) ili dermatovenerologist (muškarci). Dodatak prehrani nije nadomjestak ili zamjena uravnoteženoj prehrani. Važno je pridržavati se raznolike i uravnotežene prehrani te zdravog načina života.

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