The Therapeutic and Protective Role of Curcumin in Drugs and Chemicals Intoxication

Abstract

Curcumin is considered one of the natural promising complementary or alternative medications. Curcumin has been approved as a safe herbal spice and coloring food additive wherein it is an active ingredient of turmeric. It has a wide spectrum of therapeutic influences besides its chemoprotection and cytoprotection effects because of its potency to scavenge the free radicals that are produced by endogenous and exogenous harmful stimuli. A number of studies investigated the protective and therapeutic role of curcumin in the intoxication management of drugs and other chemicals. The results of these studies concluded that curcumin has an eligibility to ameliorate the toxic manifestations of some drugs like anti-tuberculosis drugs, chemotherapeutic drugs, analgesics, psychiatric and anesthetic drugs besides the toxicity of some environmental and chemical pollutants such as heavy metals, insecticides, and other toxic agents such as nicotine, benzopyrene, alcohol, and aflatoxins.