Inhibition of Intracellular Survival of Multi Drug Resistant Clinical Isolates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Macrophages by Curcumin

Curcuma longa commonly known as turmeric has been used in Indian Ayurvedic medicine as a constituent to treat various disorders. It is by now clear that principal curcuminoid of turmeric; curcumin, a yellow pigment, is responsible for these beneficiary activities. The aim of the present study was to evaluate anti-mycobacterial effect of curcumin (CMN) on intracellular growth of MDR clinical isolates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB). Curcumin was evaluated for its efficacy to inhibit the intracellular growth of MTB H37Rv and two MDR clinical isolates in Raw 264.7 cell line using CFU assay. Resazurin microtiter plate assay (REMA) was used to evaluate its direct anti-mycobacterial activity. Curcumin, though did not show direct anti-mycobacterial activity against three MTB strains, exhibited dose dependent inhibition of intracellular growth for MTB H37Rv as well as two MDR clinical isolates. These results suggest that CMN could be a potential candidate for future, novel adjunctive anti-TB therapy.