{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,16]],"date-time":"2025-09-16T17:04:37Z","timestamp":1758042277240,"version":"3.44.0"},"reference-count":24,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,11]],"date-time":"2025-09-11T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1757548800000},"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. Pharmacol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Background<\/jats:title><jats:p><jats:italic>Mycoplasma pneumoniae<\/jats:italic> remains a leading cause of pediatric respiratory infections, often resulting in prolonged symptoms, hospitalization, and systemic inflammation. Curcumin has been proposed as an adjunctive therapy due to its anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory properties. This study retrospectively evaluated the association between adjunctive curcumin supplementation and clinical, immunological, and nutritional outcomes in children with confirmed <jats:italic>M. pneumoniae<\/jats:italic> infection.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>We performed a retrospective observational study of children aged 1\u201312\u00a0years at Beijing Luhe Hospital (September 2023\u2013May 2024). Based on charted treatment, 160 patients were categorized into a curcumin-supplemented group (n = 80; standardized 95% curcuminoids, 20\u00a0mg\/kg\/day, with antibiotics) or a control group (n = 80; antibiotics alone). Outcomes included duration of fever\/cough, hospitalization, severe complications, inflammatory markers\u2014C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-\u03b1)\u2014pathogen-specific antibodies, and nutritional indices (body mass index [BMI], hemoglobin, serum albumin). Adverse events (AEs) were summarized.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>Baseline characteristics were comparable between groups (all p &amp;gt; 0.05). The curcumin group had shorter fever (3.2 \u00b1 1.1 vs. 4.5 \u00b1 1.3\u00a0days, p = 0.01) and cough durations (5.4 \u00b1 2.0 vs. 7.1 \u00b1 2.5\u00a0days, p = 0.02), lower hospitalization rates (1.25% vs. 10.0%, p = 0.02), and fewer severe complications (2.5% vs. 12.5%, p = 0.03). Greater reductions were observed in CRP (\u22129.6 \u00b1 5.1 vs. \u22121.8 \u00b1 4.7\u00a0mg\/L, p = 0.011), IL-6 (\u221215.1 \u00b1 6.3 vs. \u22122.5 \u00b1 5.8\u00a0pg\/mL, p = 0.01), and TNF-\u03b1 (\u22129.6 \u00b1 5.4 vs. \u22121.7 \u00b1 5.1\u00a0pg\/mL, p = 0.03), with a larger increase in <jats:italic>M. pneumoniae<\/jats:italic>-specific antibodies (+30 \u00b1 15 vs. +5 \u00b1 12 AU\/mL, p = 0.001). Antibiotic use (6.5 \u00b1 1.8 vs. 7.8 \u00b1 2.0\u00a0days, p = 0.014) and total recovery time (8.2 \u00b1 2.1 vs. 10.5 \u00b1 2.5 days, p = 0.001) were shorter in the curcumin group. Nutritional indices showed improvement in hemoglobin (p = 0.01) and serum albumin (p = 0.02), while BMI showed a non-significant increase (p = 0.368). AE incidence was low and similar (6.3% vs. 8.8%, p = 0.55). In multivariable regression, curcumin remained independently associated with shorter recovery (\u03b2 = \u22121.2, p = 0.001).<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title><jats:p>Curcumin might be a safe and well-tolerated adjunct to standard antibiotic therapy in children with <jats:italic>M. pneumoniae<\/jats:italic> infections, potentially improving clinical outcomes, reducing inflammation, and supporting nutritional status.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fphar.2025.1651875","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,11]],"date-time":"2025-09-11T14:19:15Z","timestamp":1757600355000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["The role of curcumin in modulating nutritional status and susceptibility to Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection in children"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Chun-Jing","family":"Liu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Wei","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Hong-Xiu","family":"Yang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Li-Hua","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,11]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"168","DOI":"10.1016\/j.imr.2018.02.004","article-title":"Immunomodulatory activity of curcumin-entrapped poly d,l-lactic-co-glycolic acid nanoparticles in mice","volume":"7","author":"Afolayan","year":"2018","journal-title":"Integr. 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