Fatty liver, a disease that affects 20-30% of the world’s population, can progress in some cases to cirrhosis and liver cancer if left untreated. It is also related to other pathologies such as cardiovascular diseases (stroke, myocardial infarction), colon cancer or chronic kidney disease.
The treatment of fatty liver consists of a change in lifestyle habits (diet, exercise, etc.) because although several drugs are being investigated, there is still no specific treatment. In this sense, various trials have studied the benefits of curcumin (derived from the turmeric plant) in 2,096 patients with fatty liver. However, in these studies the doses used are very different (from 50 to 3,000 mg daily) and the treatment time is relatively short (8 to 12 weeks).
In the journal Hepatology it has been published a double-blind controlled study with 52 patients with steatohepatitis (fatty liver with inflammation and destruction of liver cells) which tried to determine the safety and effectiveness of curcumin treatment. Twenty-six patients took 1,000 mg of curcumin twice daily (total dose 2,000 mg daily) for 72 weeks and the other 26 patients received placebo. All patients underwent a liver biopsy at the beginning of treatment and another biopsy at the end.
The authors found that in the group treated with curcumin there was a significant decrease in liver enzymes (TGP, GGTP) while this did not occur in the placebo group. Also, in patients treated with curcumin, triglycerides and LDL cholesterol (“bad cholesterol”) decreased and HDL (“good”) cholesterol increased, which entails a favorable cardiovascular effect. This was not observed in patients receiving placebo.
Regarding liver biopsies, it was found that in 62% of patients treated with curcumin there was resolution of fatty liver compared to 12% of cases treated with placebo. Furthermore, in 50% of patients who received curcumin, fibrosis decreased (improvement in liver biopsy) compared to 8% of the placebo group. Even in 1 patient who took cucurcumin, liver cirrhosis disappeared. Finally, mild side effects occurred in 12% of patients in the curcumin group versus 19% in the placebo group.
In summary, Dr. Carreño’s team thinks that curcumin can be an effective complement for the treatment of fatty liver with good tolerance, although trials need to be carried out with more patients.
