Lead is a naturally occurring toxic metal found in the earth's crust. The widespread usage of it has caused large-scale environmental pollution, human exposure and significant public health problems in many parts of the world. The world's largest lead mining countries for 2016 are China, Australia, the United States, Peru, Mexico, Russia, India, Bolivia, Sweden, Turkey, Iran, Kazakhstan, Poland, South Africa, North Korea, Ireland, Macedonia and others. The only place on earth where the rocks contain the greatest amount of lead is the Kohistan-Ladakh arc in the north of Pakistan [1].

Sources of environmental pollution are, in particular, mining, smelting, industrial production and recycling. More global lead consumption is in the production of lead acid batteries for motor vehicles. However, lead is also used in many other products, such as pigments, paints, solders, stained glass windows, lead crystal dishes, ammunition, ceramic glazes, jewelry, toys, as well as some cosmetics and traditional medicine. Drinking water from lead pipes or lead-soldered pipes may contain lead. Young children are especially vulnerable to the toxic effects of lead. People may be exposed to lead through professional and environmental sources due to inhalation of particles, consumption water and food (from containers made using lead glaze or lead solder and game filled with lead ammunition [2] contaminated with lead. There is no concentration of lead in the body that is not hazardous to health [3] [4].

It is known that lead has important biochemical properties that contribute to its toxic effects on the body, while it causes disruption of molecular cells and intracellular changes through death. Lead competes with calcium, its ionic mechanism of action increases the generation of oxidative stress, impairs the intracellular metabolic system, alters the vasomotor action of smooth muscles by affecting the Ca AT phase. Affects genetic transcription of DNA by interacting with proteins binding nucleic acid, which may have implications for gene regulation [5].

Long-term exposure to lead in the body causes a number of disorders, such as:

               •         pathology of the nervous system [6] [7] [8]

               •         disorders of the gastrointestinal tract [9] [10]

               •         liver damage [11] [12] [13] [14] [15]

               •         damage to the cardiovascular system [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21]

               •         damage to the endocrine system [22] [23]

               •         developmental delays and behavioral disorders in children [24] [25]

               •         affects life expectancy [26] [27]

               •         pathology of the reproductive system [28] [29] [30] [31]

               •         kidney damage [32] [33] [34]

               •         violation of bone-mineral metabolism [35] [36] [37]

               •         cancer of the lungs, stomach, kidneys, breast and brain [38] [39]

According to research data, curcumin is one of the best means for preventing the development of pathological processes in the body caused by toxins [40].

Curcumin is the main curcuminoid [41] found in turmeric root [42].

Curcumin is one of the most widely tested natural compounds. Laboratory studies have shown that curcumin is a therapeutically useful tool for preventing or correcting the negative effects of lead on the body. The mechanism of action of curcumin is due to a protective chelating effect [43], restoration and increase in the activity of SOD [44], GSH [45], CAT [46], reduction of free radicals RNS [47] and ROS [48]. Curcumin influences the production of interleukins [49], and stops the inflammatory process by activation of NF-kB [50]. It has been scientifically proven that curcumin inhibits cell death by modulating activation protein 1 (AP-1) [51], reduces lipid circulation [52] by inhibiting fatty acid synthase [53] in adipocytes [54], and also reduces lipid peroxidation [55] and the level of cholesterol (LDL) [56] [57] [58] [59] [60].

Furthermore, in laboratory conditions curcumin has demonstrated multiple pharmacological properties, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticarcinogenic, cardioprotective, hepatoprotective, antidepressant, immune-strengthening, and many others [61].

Unfortunately, these encouraging initial findings were not supported in human clinical trials due to the very low bioavailability of curcumin, which averaged no more than 0.1% [62]. This low bioavailability prevents curcumin from showing its therapeutic potential while taking as powder or extract.

It is worth noting that laboratory studies with curcumin have greatly increased interest in it all over the world, and this was especially evident in the segment of dietary supplements. On almost every supplement site, you can purchase preparations made from powder or turmeric extract and find information on the pharmacological effect of curcumin on dozens of diseases. This method of presenting information is a substitution of concepts, when laboratory findings are issued as clinical results. Neither turmeric extract, nor powder, is able to provide the pharmacological action that curcumin has shown in laboratory studies.

Increasing the bioavailability of curcumin has been the topic of many research teams for several decades [63]. Several technologies have already been developed to increase the bioavailability of curcumin. The most advanced technology for the delivery of active substances into the blood is liposomal [64].

Liposomal curcumin delivery technology allows to achieve the desired pharmacological effect in humans and animals, which has been demonstrated in thousands of laboratory studies [65] [66] [67].