Has Anyone Tried DMSO + Curcumin

Cellular uptake and intracellular distribution of curcumin

Cellular uptake of curcumin was observed in HaCaT keratinocytes incubated with 5 mug/ml curcumin after different time intervals ranging from 0 minute to 6 hours in cell culture medium without phenol red. Methanolic extracts were photometrically measured for curcumin as described. It was found that curcumin rapidly penetrated the cells (Figure 1a). After only 15 minutes, a significant amount was found within the cells. After 45 minutes, a maximum of intracellular curcumin was reached followed by a slow but steady decrease of optical density. To trace the subcellular distribution, curcumin-treated cells were examined by confocal laser scanning microscopy. Figure 1b shows curcumin-derived fluorescence accumulated in the cytoplasmic granula located close to the nucleus after 40 minutes. This cellular distribution was not changed within the observation period (4 hours) nor after treatment with UVA. Interestingly, the nucleus itself showed no fluorescence, indicating that curcumin and its fluorescing derivates do not enter the nucleus