Unrooting the Potential of Intranasal Administration of Curcumin as a Novel Asthma Controller by Alleviating Airway Inflammation

Asthma is a chronic disease where air passage of the lung is inflamed and swollen. It is among major non-communicable diseases (NCDs) with more than 339 million sufferers and affects patients’ quality of life. Some drugs are currently used to control asthma symptoms, but it has its own economic burden. The aim of this literature review is to assess the potential use of curcumin to control asthma, as curcumin is cheaper and widely available in Indonesia. A total of eight literature was acquired after searching through Pubmed, Clinical Key, Scopus, Science Direct, Proquest, and Wiley Online databases with keywords including “intranasal”, “curcumin”, “asthma”, “inflammation”, and “airway”. Since inflammation is the most featured phenomenon in asthmatics that may lead to airway obstruction, it is important to lessen airway inflammation and thus control asthma. This mechanism can be seen in administration of curcumin, which although having a wide array of interaction with pathways, showcased to have anti-inflammatory effect which is beneficial in asthma. The anti-inflammatory effect of curcumin also negates other pathologic events relevant in asthma and appears to be preventive if administered before exacerbation. Intranasal administration displayed to be the most efficacious in asthma model, bested the efficacy of standard drugs. Lastly, no toxicity was observed by included studies.