center dot High doses of cisplatin more effectively suppress cancer, but high dose therapy is limited by nephrotoxic side effects, Nephrotoxicity is of critical concern during the early stages of drug development when selecting new drug candidates. Curcuma longa (CL) has been widely used for its anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antitumour activities and has been taken orally to treat dyspepsia, flatulence and liver and urinary tract disease. WHAT THIS STUDY ADDS center dot New information indicated that the mechanism responsible for the effects of CL on HEK 293 cells was closely associated with regulation of the NF kappa B pathway. center dot This study confirmed the association of CL with the NF kappa B pathway. center dot CL may be an effective therapeutic approach to the alleviation of the progression of renal disease through cell anti-apoptosis and proliferation that occurs via inhibition of the inflammatory cytokines and the NF kappa B signaling pathway. AIM The rhizome of turmeric, Curcuma longa (CL), is a herbal medicine used in many traditional prescriptions. It has previously been shown that CL treatment showed greater than 47% recovery from cisplatin-induced cell damage in human kidney HEK 293 cells. This study was conducted to evaluate the recovery mechanisms of CL that occur during cisplatin induced nephrotoxicity by examining the genome wide mRNA expression profiles of HEK 293 -cells. METHOD Recovery mechanisms of CL that occur during cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity were determined by microarray, real-time PCR, immunofluorescent confocal microscopy and Western blot analysis. RESULTS The results of microarray analysis and real-time PCR revealed that NF kappa B pathway-related genes and apoptosis-related genes were down-regulated in CL-treated HEK 293 cells. In addition, immunofluorescent confocal microscopy and Western blot analysis revealed that NF kappa B p65 nuclear translocation was inhibited in CL-treated HEK 293 cells. Therefore, the mechanism responsible for the effects of CL on HEK 293 cells is closely associated with regulation of the NF kappa B pathway. CONCLUSION CL possesses novel therapeutic agents that can be used for the prevention or treatment of cisplatin-induced renal disorders.