I don't think Curcumin or its metabolites are inhibiting androgen receptors in healthy tissue but I did see it suggested that this may be the case in cancer tissue.
"Curcumin analogues may facilitate degradation of androgen receptor (AR) in prostate cancer [Invalid Link Removed], "
My thinking is that if curcumin were acting as an androgen inhibitor we would see at least some finasteride-like side effects. I think androgens are being allowed to bind in healthy tissues but the curcumin ( or metabolites thereof) is preventing that tissue from having a negative response to that binding,
"Curcumin shows suppressive effect on HIF1a [Invalid Link Removed, Invalid Link Removed], which was suggested as a key molecule for transition from prostatitis to BPH [Invalid Link Removed]. Moreover, it was proven to be a potent TNF blocker [Invalid Link Removed], and its antioxidant effect may suppress LOX1 [Invalid Link Removed]. Administration of curcumin was investigated as liposomal-formulated curcumin in Parkinson’s disease (PD) [Invalid Link Removed], and lecithinized curcumin delivery system in BPH [Invalid Link Removed]. "
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