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.

 

 

 

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