Hi Pacer - Since I use curcumin daily, I immediately jumped in and read the article.

First, let us note that the sample is VERY, VERY small - 10 people over a period of 5 years. And millions of people use turmeric every day in their diets. Second, there was no reporting of the amount of turmeric or curcumin the affected people were using daily. Remember, people often take the approach that "It's natural, so it's harmless" And still others believe "If a little is good, a lot is better."

You said, "The culprit is thought to be the synthetic curcumin often found in these products."

I didn't find that, but the report said, "Chemical analysis confirmed the presence of turmeric in all 7 products tested. Moreover, the detection of piperine in several of the more recent cases raises the possibility that it increased bioavailability, and thus, toxic exposure was the cause of hepatotoxicity. However, no cases of hepatotoxicity secondary to piperine ingestion alone have been reported, making the latter possibility less likely. Thus, it stands to reason that the addition of piperine could enhance direct toxicity of the turmeric product." Peperine is the active ingredient in black pepper.

What I found interesting was that a specific genetic anomaly was found in the 70% of the cases reported. "The small sample size of this case series limited the genetic analysis. However, it is notable that 7 of the 10 patients carried HLA-B*35:01, a class I HLA allele previously implicated in green tea (Camellia sinensis), Garcinia cambogia, and Polygonum multiflorum hepatotoxicity.18,20,21 Genetic studies performed by our group and others suggest that there is a common susceptibility link in persons carrying HLA-B*35:01, making them sensitive to multiple polyphenols.20,21 Therefore, carriage of this allele may be a risk factor for liver injury from several herbal components."

This sub-class of individuals represents 5-15% of the population, depending on ethnicity. Other research show people with this genetic sequence often react to other liver-affecting substances in negative ways as well, including some antibiotics, green tea and some Oriental herbs. They may also have increased adverse effects to liver-toxic substances like some chemotherapy drugs.

This simply reinforces the caveat that every individual needs to be aware of every substance they use, and how it affects them. Use only products from reliable sources and only in recommended amounts.

So thank you for the heads-up. I will be watching over time to be sure I am not having physical symptoms. And since my pain doc recommended curcumin, I will share the article with her and have her do my liver panel twice a year to watch for changes.
Sue