Enhanced Absorption of curQ+ or Liposomal Curcumin Formulations Versus 95% Curcumin Powder in Healthy Subjects

August 5, 2026 updated by: ESM Technologies, LLC

Evaluation of Enhanced Absorption of a Micellar Curcumin Formulation (curQ+) or a Liposomal Curcumin Formulation Versus 95% Curcumin Extract in Healthy Individuals

This study is intended to evaluate how significantly a proprietary curcumin formulation (curQ+® or liposomal curcumin) results in greater GI absorption compared to 95% curcumin extract over a 6-hour time period following a single oral dose in healthy men & women.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

This study is intended to evaluate how significantly a proprietary curcumin formulation (curQ+® or liposomal curcumin) results in greater GI absorption compared to 95% curcumin extract over a 6-hour time period following a single oral dose in healthy men & women. Absorption enhancement will be based upon producing the greatest plasma curcumin concentration (AUC). Secondarily, this study is intended to evaluate the safety and tolerability of the curQ+® & liposomal curcumin formulations.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
25

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Texas
      • Houston, Texas, United States, 77030
        • University of Texas Health Center

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Male or Female subjects must be 18-75 years of age at the time of Screening.
  2. Subjects must be willing to refrain from consuming the spice turmeric or any dietary supplements containing turmeric or curcumin (except for the study products) throughout the entire study and for 14 days prior to screening.
  3. Subjects must be available for and willing to attend all evaluation visits.
  4. Subjects must be able and willing to give informed consent.
  5. Subjects participating in prior studies evaluating curQ+® or curcumin can participate in the present study so long as they are not currently taking a curcumin-containing supplement (including turmeric) and have not done so for 14 days prior to screening.

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Subject is currently receiving therapy with remission-inducing drugs (i.e. methotrexate, TNF biologics, etc.), immunosuppressive drugs (i.e. corticosteroids, transplantation medications, etc.).
  2. Subjects must not have taken turmeric- or curcumin-containing dietary supplements within 14 days prior to screening evaluation.
  3. Subject has been diagnosed with any clinically significant confounding metabolic disease or condition that would interfere with the study evaluation, as judged by the clinical investigator (slow or fast metabolism resulting from hypo- or hyper-thyroidism, Cushing's Syndrome, Diabetes (except for fully resolved gestational diabetes), etc.) or any conditions that would affect absorption in the GI tract (i.e. inflammatory bowel disease, celiac disease, Behçet's Syndrome, systemic sclerosis, etc.).
  4. Subject has known allergy to any of the investigational products, including but not limited to turmeric, curcumin, coconut or coconut oil, and sunflower oil. If any subject becomes sensitive during the study, they will immediately be excluded from continuing in the study.
  5. Subject's body weight is greater than 300 pounds (136.1 kg) at the time of Screening.
  6. Subject is involved in any other research study involving an investigational product (drug, device or biologic) or a new application of an approved product, within 30 days of the first baseline evaluation.
  7. Pregnant and/or breastfeeding women, or women who intend to become pregnant during the course of the study.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Basic Science
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Active Comparator: 95% curcumin extract powder
1,035 mg of 95% curcumin extract (~1,000 mg of curcuminoids) in three #0 vegetarian capsules as a single oral dose
Dietary supplement: 95% curcumin extract powder
95% curcumin extract powder
Experimental: curQ+ curcumin formulation
2,010 mg of curQ+® containing a total of 350 mg of curcuminoids in six #0 vegetarian capsules as a single oral dose
Dietary supplement: curQ+ curcumin formulation
curQ+ curcumin formulation
Experimental: Liposomal curcumin formulation
15.4 g of liposomal curcumin containing a total of ~940 mg of curcuminoids in a 15 mL syringe as a single oral dose
Dietary supplement: liposomal curcumin formulation
liquid liposomal curcumin formulation

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Absorption of curcumin as measured in serum via Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry (LC/MS/MS)
Time Frame: 6 hours
The difference between the absorption of curcumin from the formulations curQ+ or liposomal curcumin versus 95% curcumin powder as measured in serum via Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry (LC/MS/MS)
6 hours

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
ESM Technologies, LLC

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Karen L Posey, PhD, UTHealth

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
March 1, 2024

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
April 5, 2024

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
September 10, 2024

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
December 11, 2023

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
December 11, 2023

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
December 20, 2023

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
August 7, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
August 5, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
August 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • ESM-CLN#2023T02

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

There is no plan to make individual participant data (IPD) available to other researchers.

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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