It has been demonstrated the potential protective effect of curcumin pretreatment against ethanol-induced hepatocytes oxidative damage, with emphasis on heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) induction. Ethanol exposure resulted in a sustained malondialdehyde (MDA) elevation, glutathione (GSH) depletion, and evident release of cellular lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST), which was significantly ameliorated by curcumin pretreatment. In addition, dose-and time-dependent induction of HO-1 was involved in such hepatoprotective effects by curcumin. Curcumin exerts hepatoprotective properties against ethanol involving HO-1 induction, which provide new insights into the pharmacological targets of curcumin in the prevention of alcoholic liver disease [38] .