A derivative of a common spice could offer new treatment hope for sufferers of tendinitis, an international team of researchers has shown.

In a paper due to be published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, researchers from Nottingham and Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich have shown that curcumin can be used to suppress biological mechanisms that spark inflammation in tendon diseases.

Dr Ali Mobasheri of the University’s School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, who co-led the research, said: “Our research is not suggesting that curry, turmeric or curcumin are cures for inflammatory conditions such as tendinitis and arthritis. However, we believe that it could offer scientists an important new lead in the treatment of these painful conditions through nutrition. Further research into curcumin, and chemically-modified versions of it, should be the subject of future investigations and complementary therapies aimed at reducing the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, the only drugs currently available.”

Tendons, the tough cords of fibrous connective tissue that join muscles to bones, are essential for movement because they transfer the force of muscle contraction to bones. However, they are prone to injury, particularly in athletes. Tendinitis (or tendonitis) is an inflammation, which causes pain and tenderness near to joints and is particularly common in shoulders, elbows, knees, hips, heels or wrists. Other examples of common tendon disease include tennis elbow and Achilles tendinitis.

The global incidence of tendinitis is on the increase in line with the rise in ageing and inflammatory diseases. It is also linked to other arthritic and rheumatic diseases and metabolic diseases such as diabetes.

The only medicines which are effective in treating tendinitis are non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS), such as aspirin or ibuprofen. However, NSAIDS and steroids are associated with side effects including stomach ulcers, nausea, vomiting, heartburn, headache, diarrhoea, constipation, drowsiness and fatigue. Consequently, there is an acute need for new treatments with fewer debilitating side effects.

This latest research centres on curcumin, a key ingredient of turmeric, which has been used for centuries in traditional Indian or Ayurvedic medicine as an anti-inflammatory agent and remedy for symptoms related to irritable bowel syndrome and other disorders.

More recently, studies have linked curcumin to potential treatments of arthritis and rheumatic diseases and, potentially, as an agent to kill cancer cells or make them sensitive to killing by chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

The latest study used a culture model of human tendon inflammation to observe the effects that curcumin had on the inflammatory and degenerative properties induced by signalling molecules called interleukins. Interleukins are a type of small cell-signalling protein molecules called cytokines that can activate a whole series of inflammatory genes by triggering a dangerous ‘switch’ called NF-kB. The results showed that introducing curcumin in the culture system inhibits NF-kB and prevents it from switching on and promoting further inflammation.