Aims and Objective: Oral potentially malignant disorders are one of the most ubiquitous lesions worldwide today. Leukoplakia is one of the most common potentially malignant disorders, which if not treated, can be lethal. Turmeric and its active ingredient “curcumin” are being studied upon as chemopreventive agents in oral leukoplakia. Curcumin is the most active ingredient of turmeric and it exhibits antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and pro-apoptotic activities. The purpose of study was to evaluate the efficacy of curcumin in oral leukoplakia in systemic form.
Materials and methods: Study was conducted in 60 patients diagnosed clinico-histopathologically with leukoplakia. Patients were divided into 2 groups. Group A is controlled group. Group Bwas given commercially available curcumin 400mg twice a day in systemic form (cap. Himalaya Haridra). The study subjects were followed up for three months, regularly at 15 days intervals, and the data was statistically evaluated by SPSS paired t tests. Results: A significant improvement is seen in terms of decrease in the size of lesion and cure of lesions in group B
Conclusion: The observed effect of curcumin suggests that it can be effectively and safely used for the management of oral leukoplakia.
