Curcumin helpful in multiple sclerosis model

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Curcumin helpful in multiple sclerosis model

 

Six hundred and eighty-eight studies, more than 400 of them

published within the last four years, confirm curcumin's remarkable

anticarcinogenic, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant properties. In

particular, within the last year several studies have shown

curcumin's potential as a neuroprotective agent:

 

Epidemiological studies showing that in elderly Indian populations,

among whose diet turmeric is a common spice, levels of neurological

diseases such as Alzheimer's are very low.

 

A November 2001 study conducted at the Departments of Medicine and

Neurology at the University of California, Los Angeles reported

curcumin slows the progression of Alzheimer's in mice.

In the most recent study, curcumin was shown to exert significant

protection against multiple sclerosis. Researchers gave injections

of 50- and 100-microgram doses of curcumin, three times per week

over a period of 30 days, to a group of mice bred to develop the

experimental form of MS known as EAE, and then watched the mice for

signs of developing MS-like neurological impairment.

 

By day 15, those mice who had not received curcumin developed EAE to

such an extent that they displayed complete paralysis of both hind

limbs. In contrast, mice given the 50-microgram dose of the curcumin

showed only minor symptoms, such as a temporarily stiff tail. And

mice given the 100-microgram dose fared best of all; they appeared

completely unimpaired throughout the 30 days of the study.

 

The doses of curcumin that protected the mice against the

development of EAE were roughly equivalent in human terms to those

found in a typical Indian diet. In Asian countries, such as India

and China, where foods spiced with curcumin-containing spices like

turmeric are common fare, reports of MS are extremely rare.

 

Just how curcumin might work to prevent demyelinization remains

unclear, but researchers at Vanderbilt University believe curcumin

may interrupt the production of IL-12, a protein that plays a key

role in the destruction of the myelin by signaling for the

development of neural antigen-specific Th1 cells, immune cells that

then launch an attack on the myelin sheath.

 

The typical recommended dosage for curcumin in multiple sclerosis is

200 to 400 milligrams one to three times a day (usually with an

equivalent amount of bromelain to enhance absorption).

 

 

 

References:

 

Natarajan C, Bright JJ. Curcumin inhibits experimental allergic

encephalomyelitis by blocking IL-12 signaling through Janus kinase-

STAT pathway in T lymphocytes. J Immunol 2002;168(12):6506-13.

Natarajan C, Bright JJ. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-

gamma agonists inhibit experimental allergic encephalomyelitis by

blocking IL-12 production, IL-12 signaling and Th1 differentiation.

Genes Immun 2002;3(2):59-70.

 

http://www.doctormurray.com/newsletter/1-01-2003.htm