Herbal Turmeric, A Natural And Potential Treatment of Chagas Heart Disease

By Kyle J. Norton

Chagas disease (CD) is a medical condition caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi.

According to the statistics, approximately 6 million people worldwide are living Chagas disease. The  majority of patients reside in Mexico, Central America, and South America, 

Chagas heart disease can be classified into
* Acute Chagas heart disease is characterized by the inflammation of the heart,  gastrointestinal tract (mainly esophagus and colon), meninges, and central and peripheral nervous tissues. Untreated symptomatic patients in this phase may face a roughly 1% chance of death in the acute period, usually the result of severe myocarditis or meningoencephalitis

*  The indeterminate form of Chagas heart disease is characterized by small foci of mild chronic myocarditis, with interstitial edema, early fibrosis, and infiltration by lymphocytes, macrophages, and plasma cells. Most patients with the indeterminate form will progress to the chronic form of Chagas heart disease such as dilated cardiomyopathy, at a rate of 1.85% to 7% annually.

* The chronic form of Chagas heart disease is characterized by cardiomegaly and increased cardiac mass, thinning of the ventricular walls, and aneurysmal lesions in various regions of the LV and right ventricle (RV).

Dr. Edimar Alcides Bocchi, the lead scientist in the treatment of Chagas heart disease wrote, "Pharmacological treatment and antiarrhythmic therapy for ChHD is mostly based on results for other etiologies. Heart transplantation is an established, valuable therapeutic option in refractory ChHD".

And, "Implantable cardioverter-defibrillators are indicated for the prevention of secondary sudden cardiac death. Specific etiological treatments should be revisited and reserved for select patients. Understanding and management of ChHD need improvement, including the development of randomized trials".

Turmeric is a perennial plant in the genus Curcuma, belongings to the family Zingiberaceae, native to tropical South Asia.

The herb has been used in traditional medicine as anti-oxidant, hypoglycemic, colorant, antiseptic, wound healing agent, and for the treatment of flatulence, bloating, and appetite loss, ulcers, eczema, inflammations, etc.

With an aim to find a potential compound for the treatment of Chagas heart disease, caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi., researchers examined the anti-inflammatory and cardioprotective properties of curcumin (Cur).

The study included oral therapy with Cur on T. cruzi-mediated cardio-vasculopathy in acutely infected mice and in vitro, the response of parasite-infected human microvascular endothelial cells treated with this phytochemical.

According to the tested assays, oral Cur therapy showed a reduced inflammatory cell infiltration of myocardial arteries without lowering parasite levels in the tested infected mice.

Furthermore, mice treated with Cur showed significantly decreased vessel inflammation scores (p < 0.001), vascular permeabilities compared to mice treated with the phosphate-buffered saline-receiving group.

Moreover, levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines and ET-1 secretion involved in vascular constriction was also inhibited by the treatment of Cur.

Additionally, proteins and signaling pathways that promote the generation of inflammatory agents also inhibited by the injection of Cur.

In other words, curcumin (Cur) exerted the anti-inflammatory and cardioprotective properties against parasite-induced the onset of Chagas heart disease.

Based on the findings researchers wrote, "These findings identify new perspectives for exploring the potential of Cur-based interventions to ameliorate Chagas heart disease".

Taken altogether, turmeric processed abundantly bioactive compound curcumin may be considered supplements for the prevention and treatment of Chagas heart disease, pending to the confirmation of the larger sample size and multicenter human study.

Intake of turmeric in the form of supplement should be taken with extreme care to prevent overdose acute liver toxicity.

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Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrition, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, best before it's news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada - Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma and Bioscience, ISSN 0975-6299.

Sources
(1) Curcumolide reduces diabetic retinal vascular leukostasis and leakage partly via inhibition of the p38MAPK/NF-κ B signaling by Cai Y1, Li W1, Tu H1, Chen N1, Zhong Z1, Yan P1, Dong J. (PubMed)
(2) Curcumin exerts anti-inflammatory and vasoprotective effects through amelioration of NFAT-dependent endothelin-1 production in mice with acute Chagas cardiomyopathy by Hernández M1, Wicz S1, Santamaría MH2, Corral RS. (PubMed)
(3) Chagas Cardiomyopathy: An Update of Current Clinical Knowledge and Management A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association. (Circulation)
(4) Chronic Chagas Heart Disease Management
From Etiology to Cardiomyopathy Treatment by Edimar Alcides Bocchi, Reinaldo Bulgarelli Bestetti, Mauricio Ibrahim Scanavacca, Edecio Cunha Neto and Victor Sarli Issa. (JACC)