ReviewCureus2026
A Systematic Review With Targeted Meta-Analyses of Curcumin and Berberine In Vitro Cytotoxicity Models (2014-2026).
Review in Cureus, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
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Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Traditional systems of medicine (siddha, ayurveda, and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM)) contribute a large fraction of natural products investigated for anticancer activity. Yet quantitative synthesis is often invalidated by extreme methodological heterogeneity (different cell lines, exposure times, and viability assays). Therefore, we performed a Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA)-guided systematic review of preclinical studies between 2014 and 2026, and conducted targeted meta-analyses only in narrowly matched strata where pooling is defensible, i.e., (i) curcumin against Michigan Cancer Foundation-7 (MCF-7) breast cancer cells at 48 hours using MTT-like viability assays and (ii) berberine against HepG2 hepatocellular carcinoma cells at 48 hours using MTT-like assays. Effect sizes were half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) values, analyzed on the log scale with random-effects (restricted maximum likelihood (REML)) models. When publications did not report variance for IC50, a conservative within-study coefficient of variation of 20% was assumed and explored in sensitivity analyses. Across three curcumin studies (MCF-7, 48 hours), the pooled geometric mean IC50 was 22.85 µM (95% CI: 11.04-47.27) with high heterogeneity (I² = 93.54%). Across two berberine studies (HepG2, 48 hours), the pooled geometric mean IC50 was 31.63 µM (95% CI: 22.84-43.79) with moderate heterogeneity (I² = 63.70%). Mechanistically, the included studies converge on apoptosis induction and anti-metastatic signaling: curcumin downregulated anti-apoptotic nodes (e.g., Mcl-1) and modulated microRNAs, while berberine affected epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-linked pathways (e.g., transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β)/Smad), telomerase-associated phenotypes, and metabolic transport targets. We additionally map representative siddha herbo-mineral and ayurvedic polyherbal preclinical evidence and discuss translational obstacles (standardization, bioavailability, and reporting quality). To improve preclinical data transparency, we recommend protocol preregistration, such as Clinical Trials Registry - India (CTRI), and public deposition of extracted datasets and analysis scripts.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.