Background: Oxidative stress is a disturbance which is caused by imbalance of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and antioxidants. Heart is one of the main target organs because it is the highest ROS producer. Malondialdehyde (MDA) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) are two biomarkers often used to evaluate oxidative stress. Due to their antioxidant properties, curcumin and nano curcumin are expected to protect heart from cardiotoxicity caused by oxidative stress. Methods: This is a systematic review of experimental studies available in the literature that reported the curcumin and/or nano curcumin and oxidative stress analyzed through the levels of MDA and SOD in heart of rats. Results: There are 8 out of 8 articles that prove a decrease in cardiac MDA levels after curcumin administration. Seven of them gave significant results with p-value <0.05. Meanwhile, one article stated there is no significant p-value, which is 0.187. A significant increase in SOD levels was shown to occur after curcumin administration in 6 of the 6 articles obtained. Not only curcumin, but nano curcumin can also reduce MDA levels and increase SOD levels of heart significantly. In 4 articles that directly compared the two antioxidants, nano curcumin was able to provide more significant results even at lower doses. Conclusion: Both curcumin and nano curcumin are capable to decrease the level of cardiac MDA and increase the level of cardiac SOD. Nano curcumin is a more effective cardioprotector compared to curcumin through MDA and SOD level analysis in rats.

Curcumin

malondialdehyde (MDA)

cardioprotection

nano curcumin

superoxide dismutase