BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Curcumin is a well-known phytochemical with antiinflammatory effects. Heat shock protein (HSP) 70, an intracellular chaperone, inhibits proinflammatory signaling activation. Although curcumin has been shown to induce HSP70 expression in various cell types, whether HSP70 mediates the anti-inflammatory effects of curcumin in mature adipocytes remains unclear.MATERIALS/METHODS: To assess the role of HSP70 in regulating the anti-inflammatory response to curcumin in adipocytes, fully differentiated 3T3-L1 adipocytes were treated with curcumin, lipopolysaccharide (LPS), and/or the HSP70 inhibitor pifithrin-μ (PFT-μ). The expression levels of HSP70 and proinflammatory cytokines were then measured. RESULTS: Curcumin upregulated HSP70 expression at both protein and mRNA levels and attenuated LPS-induced Il6, Ptx3, and Ccl2> mRNA upregulation. PFT-μ tended to exacerbate the LPS-induced upregulation of Il6, Ptx3,Ccl2>, and Tnfa mRNA expression. However, on curcumin pretreatment, the tendency of PFT-μ to upregulate LPS-induced proinflammatory cytokine expression decreased or disappeared. CONCLUSION These results indicate that HSP70 is involved in the regulation of inflammatory responses but may not be crucial for the anti-inflammatory effects of curcumin in 3T3-L1 adipocytes.