Potentially New Synergistic Combination of Curcumin and Rosuvastatin: An in Vitro Study

Abstract

Due to the increased rate of infectious diseases, an insufficient number of therapeutics and antibiotic resistance, the detection of potential sources of novel therapeutic agents is of crucial importance. As the current medicines are simply not sufficient, further studies have been based on a combinational approach that evaluates the synergistic pharmacological activity of plantderived compounds and other medicines. Curcumin, a natural polyphenol extracted from plant Curcuma longa L., and rosuvastatin, synthetic lipid-lowering medicine, pose a wide range of pharmacological properties. So far, the combined activity of curcumin and rosuvastatin has not been investigated. The aim of this study was to examine the potential synergistic antimicrobial, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory in vitro activity of a combination of curcumin and rosuvastatin. In vitro agar well diffusion method was used to determine antibacterial activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria as well as the antifungal activity. Antioxidant activity was evaluated by a commonly used in vitro assay for scavenging free radicals. In vitro assay of inhibition of protein denaturation was applied for the determination of anti-inflammatory activity. Results have demonstrated that a combination of curcumin and rosuvastatin suppressed the growth of all tested strains of microorganisms, therefore implying significant antimicrobial activity. Results have also suggested that a combination of curcumin and rosuvastatin shows a dose-dependent activity in scavenging free radicals and inhibiting protein denaturation. Therefore, the present in vitro study emphasizes the potential application of a combination of curcumin and rosuvastatin as antimicrobial, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agents. However, current findings are limited to in vitro assays and further research should be conducted involving in vivo models.