The curry spice curcumin reduces oxidative damage and amyloid pathology in an Alzheimer transgenic mouse
Bibliographic
The goal of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of dietary curcumin on reducing the AD-like pathology of the Tg2576 mouse model of AD. The Tg mice were treated with one of two doses of curcumin (5000ppm or 160ppm) and inflammation, oxidative damage and beta amyloid plaque pathology were evaluated. Results showed: 1) both low and high doses of curcumin significantly lowered oxidized proteins and interleukin-1 , a pro-inflammatory cytokine elevated in the brains of these mice; 2) with the low-dose but not high-dose of curcumin, the astrocytic marker GFAP was reduced, insoluble and soluble beta -amyloid peptides,and beta amyloid plaque burden were significantly decreased by 43–50%. In view of its efficacy and apparent low toxicity, curcumin shows promise for the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease.