Turmeric supplement and severe liver injury in one woman
What it found
A 65-year-old woman developed severe liver inflammation two weeks after restarting a turmeric supplement.
Her liver tests improved over three weeks with steroid treatment.
What they found
Studies in people
Severe liver inflammation
Two weeks after restarting the supplement, she felt sick and her skin turned yellow. Blood tests showed very high liver enzymes, with AST at 4310 U/L and ALT above 2500 U/L, plus total bilirubin at 18.3 mg/dL.
Immune system markers
Her blood contained smooth muscle antibodies at 77 U and raised IgG levels at 1798 mg/dL. Tests for viruses and genetic liver conditions came back negative.
Liver tissue findings
A biopsy on hospital day four showed acute inflammation with many plasma cells and blocked bile flow. There was no scarring in the liver tissue.
Steroid treatment response
Doctors gave intravenous methylprednisolone at 60 mg daily, then oral prednisone starting at 40 mg daily. Her blood test results improved steadily over three weeks.
Worse on second exposure
Her peak bilirubin reached 18.3 mg/dL this time, compared with 7.3 mg/dL during her first episode six years earlier. The authors suggest her immune system became more sensitive after the first exposure.
Other findings
Black pepper extract role
The supplement included piperine from black pepper, which can raise curcumin absorption by up to 20-fold. The authors note piperine might add to liver stress.
What the authors conclude
- They advise doctors to consider herbal supplements as possible causes when patients develop sudden liver inflammation.
- They recommend steroid treatment if liver tests keep worsening after stopping the suspected supplement.
- The authors say avoiding re-exposure is critical because taking the product again may cause a stronger immune reaction.
How it was done
The authors wanted to describe a rare type of liver injury that mimics an autoimmune disease but is triggered by a drug or supplement. Turmeric supplements are increasingly linked to liver problems, but immune-related reactions remain uncommon.
They followed one 65-year-old woman who took one tablespoon daily of a turmeric supplement containing black pepper extract. She had suspected liver injury from the same product six years earlier. Doctors ran blood tests, scanned her liver, took a tissue sample, and treated her with steroids for several weeks.
What it can’t tell you
- This report describes only one person, so it cannot show how often this happens to others taking turmeric.
- A single case cannot prove the supplement caused the liver injury rather than something else.
- Scientists do not yet know whether most people would react the same way.
Who paid
- Conflicts
- Declaration of conflicting interestsThe authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
- Authors work at
- Eisenhower Medical Center, USA
The paper
- Title
- Recurrent Drug-Induced Autoimmune-like Hepatitis due to Turmeric Supplementation
- Type
- Case report
- Evidence
- Studies in people
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Cite
- Patel AA, Dargan KK, Formaker P, Romberg C (2026). Recurrent Drug-Induced Autoimmune-like Hepatitis due to Turmeric Supplementation. Journal of investigative medicine high impact case reports. doi:10.1177/23247096261452814Free full textPubMed 42160492DOI
Summary written 1 Oct 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error