Effects of Curcuminoids Plus Piperine Co-Supplementation on Liver Enzymes and Inflammation in Adults: A GRADE-Assessed Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Karimi M, Javadi M, Sharifi M, Valizadeh F, Karimi MA, Asbaghi O · Food Science & Nutrition

The piperine-combination literature pooled on its own. AST fell 2.29 IU (p=0.019) and IL-6 fell 5.59 (p<0.001); ALT (p=0.053), ALP (p=0.095), CRP (p=0.222) and TNF-alpha (p=0.314) did not change. ALT reductions appeared only in metabolically at-risk and overweight subgroups.

Population

18 RCTs of curcuminoid plus piperine co-supplementation in adults

Intervention

Curcuminoids with piperine

Comparator

Placebo, control or no treatment

Limitations

No joint endpoint. Small absolute changes in liver enzymes within the normal range, subgroup-dependent, and the pooled trials are short; it neither supports nor rules out the idiosyncratic liver injury seen in case reports, which is a different mechanism from mean enzyme shifts.