Guangman Xu , Jiayi Wu

Traditional Chinese Medicine Research Center, Cuixi Academy of Biotechnology, Zhuji, 311800, Zhejiang, China
Author    Correspondence author
Medicinal Plant Research, 2025, Vol. 15, No. 6   doi: 10.5376/mpr.2025.15.0027
Received: 08 Sep., 2025    Accepted: 15 Oct., 2025    Published: 21 Nov., 2025

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Xu G.M., and Wu J.Y., 2025, Curcuma longa and its bioactive curcuminoids: molecular mechanisms in anti-inflammatory and immunomodulation, Medicinal Plant Research, 15(6): 254-263 (doi: 10.5376/mpr.2025.15.0027)

Curcuma longa and its major bioactive compound, curcumin, have been used widely in traditional medicine and have attracted wide research attention worldwide for their prominent anti-inflammation and immunomodulatory effects in recent years. This study summarizes the chemical properties of C. longa and curcumin, their major bioactive constituents, and the mechanism of their synergistic actions, focusing on inhibiting inflammatory responses through the modulation of the NF-κB, MAPK, JAK/STAT, and PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathways to regulate innate and adaptive immunity, inflammasomes, and the activity of immune-related cells. It integrates the progress in the in vitro, animal, and clinical research, discussing bioavailability, metabolism, and gut microbiota interactions on their physiological activities. Safety, dosage, possible risks, and challenges in translation into pharmaceutical applications are analyzed. Being natural products, C. longa and curcumin possess huge potential in the prevention and treatment of chronic inflammation-related diseases. More studies in mechanistic elucidation and clinical validation would be required to promote the clinical application of C. longa and curcumin. In addition, this study has helped gain further insight into the molecular mechanisms of the therapeutic properties of C. longa and curcumin, which provides the scientific basis necessary for developing and applying C. longa and curcumin as natural anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory agents in the management of chronic diseases.

Curcuma longa; Curcumin; Anti-inflammatory; Immunomodulation; Molecular mechanisms