BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Curcumin, a natural polyphenolic compound derived from the rhizome of turmeric, has a cardiovascular protective effects. Histone acetyltransferase (HAT) is a consequential enzyme in processes of cardiac hypertrophy (cardiomegaly). According the high prevalence of cardiovascular disease and necessity for prevention, this review had studied the effect of curcumin on the activity of the histone acetyltransferases and cardiac hypertrophy process.

METHODS: In this study, scientific articles indexed in databases "Web of science, Scopus, PubMed, SID, ISI" were studied using key words "Curcumin, Tumeric, Histone Acetyltransferases, Cardiomegaly". 66 articles were studied eventually of the 640 articles in the initial search.

FINDINGS: Cardiac hypertrophy, as one of the most common symptoms of cardiovascular disease, may lead to the heart failure and cardiac arrest. Curcumin plays an important role in the prevention and treatment of cardiac hypertrophy; which inhibits the DNA transcription and myocardial uncontrolled growth by reducing the activity of HAT and GATA4 acetylation. Curcumin acts as a selective histone acetyltransferase inhibitor and reduces the ratio of heart weight to body weigh. In addition, curcumin reduces the activity of NF-κB, a transcription factor in the pathophysiology of myocardial diseases, and inflammatory biomarkers, including MCP-1, IL-6, IL-1, TNF-α.

CONCLUSION: Although the mechanism of curcumin is not as clear, according to previous studies it can be realized turmeric is associated with the inhibition of histone acetyltransferase activity and prevent cardiac hypertrophy. However, curcumin is not toxic to humans in high doses, but its overuse use is not recommended due to limited bioavailability.