{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,30]],"date-time":"2026-09-30T00:26:59Z","timestamp":1790728019644,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":10,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,14]],"date-time":"2026-07-14T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1783987200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Nutr."],"abstract":"<jats:p>\n                    Type 2 diabetes mellitus is increasingly conceptualized as an immunometabolic disorder in which hyperglycemia, insulin resistance, oxidative stress, and chronic low-grade inflammation interact synergistically to accelerate vascular and end-organ complications. Curcumin, the principal polyphenolic constituent of\n                    <jats:italic>Curcuma longa<\/jats:italic>\n                    , has attracted sustained scientific interest as an adjunct intervention given its putative effects on glycemic regulation, inflammatory signaling, and redox homeostasis. Clinical translation has been constrained by poor aqueous solubility, limited gastrointestinal absorption, rapid phase II metabolism, and inconsistent formulation quality across investigational preparations limitations extensively documented across pharmacokinetic studies and clinical reviews. This Perspective contends that curcumin must be evaluated not as a generic botanical supplement but as a standardized, formulation-dependent adjunct requiring precision in dose selection, delivery architecture, bioavailability enhancement, biomarker specification, and patient phenotyping. Emerging platforms, including curcuminoid-piperine co-formulations, phospholipid complexes, polymeric nanoparticles, and micellar systems, may substantially improve systemic exposure and therapeutic reproducibility. Evidence from randomized controlled trials and meta-analyses indicates potential improvements in fasting plasma glucose, glycated hemoglobin, insulin resistance indices, and inflammatory biomarkers, although heterogeneity in formulation composition, intervention duration, dosing strategy, and background pharmacotherapy attenuates certainty of effect. A precision adjunct framework is proposed to identify the patient subgroups, formulation classes, and inflammatory phenotypes most likely to derive clinical benefit. Future trials should prioritize standardized preparations, pharmacokinetic validation, stratified enrolment, clinically meaningful end-points, systematic safety monitoring, and rigorous integration with guideline-concordant diabetes management.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fnut.2026.1874887","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,14]],"date-time":"2026-07-14T04:21:52Z","timestamp":1784002912000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Standardized curcumin formulations in type 2 diabetes mellitus: a precision adjunct strategy targeting bioavailability, glycemic control, and immunometabolic inflammation"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Eleje O.","family":"Okonta","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmacognosy and Environmental Medicine, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Nigeria Nsukka","place":["Nsukka, Nigeria"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Charles O.","family":"Nnadi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmaceutical and Medicinal Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Nigeria Nsukka","place":["Nsukka, Nigeria"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ugwu Okechukwu","family":"Paul-Chima","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Research and Publication, Kampala International University","place":["Kampala, Uganda"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,14]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"10713","DOI":"10.1021\/acsomega.2c07326","article-title":"Curcumin formulations for better bioavailability: what we learned from clinical trials thus far?","volume":"8","author":"Hegde","year":"2023","journal-title":"ACS Omega."},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"3477","DOI":"10.1007\/s00210-023-02825-7","article-title":"Clinical trials on curcumin in relation to its bioavailability and effect on malignant diseases: critical analysis.","volume":"397","author":"Khosravi","year":"2024","journal-title":"Naunyn Schmiedebergs Arch Pharmacol"},{"key":"B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"404","DOI":"10.3390\/nu13020404","article-title":"Potential therapeutic effects of curcumin on glycemic and lipid profile in uncomplicated type 2 diabetes-a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trial.","volume":"13","author":"Altobelli","year":"2021","journal-title":"Nutrients"},{"key":"B4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e71748","DOI":"10.1002\/fsn3.71748","article-title":"Curcumin\/turmeric supplementation on glycemic control in adults with prediabetes and type 2 diabetes: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis.","volume":"14","author":"Bahari","year":"2026","journal-title":"Food Sci Nutr"},{"key":"B5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"4177","DOI":"10.3390\/nu16234177","article-title":"Curcumin attenuates hyperglycemia and inflammation in type 2 diabetes mellitus: quantitative analysis of randomized controlled trial.","volume":"16","author":"Mokgalaboni","year":"2024","journal-title":"Nutrients"},{"key":"B6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"34","DOI":"10.1038\/s41387-025-00386-7","article-title":"The effect of turmeric\/curcumin supplementation on anthropometric indices in subjects with prediabetes and type 2 diabetes mellitus: a GRADE-assessed systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.","volume":"15","author":"Moradi Baniasadi","year":"2025","journal-title":"Nutr Diabetes"},{"key":"B7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"4471944","DOI":"10.1155\/2021\/4471944","article-title":"Efficacy and safety of curcumin supplementation on improvement of insulin resistance and glycaemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: a systematic review and meta-analysis.","volume":"2021","author":"Zhang","year":"2021","journal-title":"Evid Based Complement Alternat Med."},{"key":"B8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"8","DOI":"10.1186\/s12986-019-0331-1","article-title":"Nano-curcumin improves glucose indices, lipids, inflammation, and nesfatin in overweight and obese patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD): a double-blind randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial.","volume":"16","author":"Jazayeri-Tehrani","year":"2019","journal-title":"Nutr Metab"},{"key":"B9","first-page":"567","article-title":"The effect of nano-curcumin on HbA1c, fasting blood glucose, and lipid profile in diabetic subjects: a randomised clinical trial.","volume":"6","author":"Rahimi","year":"2016","journal-title":"Avicenna J Phytomed."},{"key":"B10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"669448","DOI":"10.3389\/fendo.2021.669448","article-title":"The effects of curcumin on diabetes mellitus: a systematic review.","volume":"12","author":"Marton","year":"2021","journal-title":"Front Endocrinol"}],"container-title":["Frontiers in Nutrition"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fnut.2026.1874887\/full","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,14]],"date-time":"2026-07-14T04:21:52Z","timestamp":1784002912000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fnut.2026.1874887\/full"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,14]]},"references-count":10,"alternative-id":["10.3389\/fnut.2026.1874887"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/fnut.2026.1874887","relation":{},"ISSN":["2296-861X"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2296-861X","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,14]]},"article-number":"1874887"}}