Curcumin Improves Aortic Function in Type 1 Diabetic Rats After 1 Month
Updated
Updated · SciTechDaily · Aug 20
Curcumin Improves Aortic Function in Type 1 Diabetic Rats After 1 Month
2 articles · Updated · SciTechDaily · Aug 20
Summary
One month of curcumin treatment left Type 1 diabetic rats with blood vessels that more closely resembled those of non-diabetic animals, according to findings presented at the 2026 American Physiology Summit.
The study found the turmeric compound preserved aortic structure and function while lowering inflammation, restoring normal calcium activity in vessels, and rebalancing heat shock protein 70 disrupted by diabetes.
Those changes matter because persistently high glucose can gradually weaken blood vessel strength and elasticity, raising long-term cardiovascular risk even when insulin therapy is carefully managed.
About 2 million people in the U.S. live with Type 1 diabetes, but the results remain limited to rats and do not show that turmeric or curcumin supplements are safe or effective in humans.
Clinical studies are still needed to test human benefit, determine dosing, and assess interactions with existing medications before curcumin could be considered a treatment.