Does systemic oral administration of curcumin effectively reduce alveolar bone loss associated with periodontal disease? A systematic review and meta-analysis of preclinical in vivo studies

[Display omitted] •We evaluated the efficacy of curcumin in bone loss in rats after systemic oral administration.•Doses of 30 and 100 mg/kg in periods of 14 to 30 days were evaluated.•Twelve preclinical studies were eligible for inclusion in the meta-analysis.•Curcumin reduces periodontitis-induced alveolar bone loss.•Best results for chemically modified curcumin in doses of 30 mg/kg. The aim of this systematic review was to evaluate the effectiveness of the systemic oral administration of curcumin in reducing alveolar bone loss (ABL) associated with periodontal disease. The review followed the PRISMA recommendations and was registered in PROSPERO. A search was performed in 8 databases in 2019. Studies that assessed ABL after administration of natural (C30 or C100 mg/kg) or chemically modified (CMC30 mg/kg) curcumin over a 14-day to 30-day period were included. A meta-analysis was performed considering a 95% CI. From 586 identified studies, 12 were considered in the analyses. Four studies demonstrated a significant effect on ABL reduction when natural was used, and six studies when CMC was used. The meta-analysis demonstrated that chemically-modified curcumin yielded the best results in terms of the bone volume fraction and of millimeters of alveolar bone. There is evidence that curcumin reduces periodontitis-induced ABL, with promising effects for CMC.