EFFECT OF CURCUMIN LIPOSOMAL FORM ON ANGIOTENSIN CONVERTING ACTIVITY, CYTOKINES AND COGNITIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE RATS WITH ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE MODEL

Epigenetic Orchestration of Neurodegenerative Disorders: A Possible Target for Curcumin as a Therapeutic

Epigenetic modulations play a major role in gene expression and thus are responsible for various physiological changes including age-associated neurological disorders. Neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's (AD), Parkinson's (PD), Huntington's disease (HD), although symptomatically different, may share common underlying mechanisms. Most neurodegenerative diseases are associated with increased oxidative stress, aggregation of certain proteins, mitochondrial dysfunction, inactivation/dysregulation of protein degradation machinery, DNA damage and cell excitotoxicity. Epigenetic modulations has been reported to play a significant role in onset and progression of neurodegenerative diseases by regulating these processes. Previous studies have highlighted the marked antioxidant and neuroprotective abilities of polyphenols such as curcumin, by increased activity of detoxification systems like superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase or glutathione peroxidase. The role of curcumin as an epigenetic modulator in neurological disorders and neuroinflammation apart from other chronic diseases have also been reported by a few groups. Nonetheless, the evidences for the role of curcumin mediated epigenetic modulation in its neuroprotective ability are still limited. This review summarizes the current knowledge of the role of mitochondrial dysfunction, epigenetic modulations and mitoepigenetics in age-associated neurological disorders such as PD, AD, HD, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), and Multiple Sclerosis (MS), and describes the neuroprotective effects of curcumin in the treatment and/or prevention of these neurodegenerative diseases by regulation of the epigenetic machinery.

Efficacy of TurmiZn, a Metallic Complex of Curcuminoids-Tetrahydrocurcumin and Zinc on Bioavailability, Antioxidant, and Cytokine Modulation Capability

Complexes of curcumin with metals have shown much-improved stability, solubility, antioxidant capability, and efficacy when compared to curcumin. The present research investigates the relative bioavailability, antioxidant, and ability to inhibit inflammatory cytokine production of a curcuminoid metal chelation complex of tetrahydrocurcumin-zinc-curcuminoid termed TurmiZn. In vitro uptake assay using pig intestinal epithelial cells showed that TurmiZn has an ~3-fold increase (p ≤ 0.01) in uptake compared to curcumin and a ~2-fold increase (p ≤ 0.01) over tetrahydrocurcumin (THC). In a chicken model, an oral 1-g dose of TurmiZn showed a ~2.5-fold increase of a specific metabolite peak compared to curcumin (p = 0.004) and a ~3-fold increase compared to THC (p = 0.001). Oral doses (5 g/Kg) of TurmiZn in rats also showed the presence of curcumin and THC metabolites in plasma, indicating bioavailability across cell membranes in animals. Determination of the antioxidant activity by a 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl-hydrate (DPPH) radical scavenging assay indicated that TurmiZn was about 13x better (p ≤ 0.0001) than curcumin and about 4X better (p ≤ 0.0001) than THC, in reducing free radicals. In vitro experiments further showed significant (p ≤ 0.01) reductions of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced proinflammatory cytokines such as interleukin (IL) IL-6, IL-8, IL-15, IL-18, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, while showing a significant (p ≤ 0.01) increase of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) in dog kidney cells. In vivo cytokine modulations were also observed when TurmiZn was fed for 6 weeks to newborn chickens. TurmiZn reduced IL-1 and IL-6, but significantly reduced (p ≤ 0.01) IL-10 levels while there was a concurrent significant (p = 0.02) increase in interferon gamma compared to controls. Overall, these results indicate that TurmiZn has better bioavailability and antioxidant capability than curcumin or THC and has the ability to significantly modulate cytokine levels. Thus, TurmiZn could be an excellent candidate for a novel ingredient that can be incorporated into food and supplements to help overall health during the aging process.

The cumulative effect of the combined action of miR-101 and curcumin in a liposome on a model of Alzheimer's disease in mononuclear cells

The leading pathological mechanisms of Alzheimer's disease (AD) are amyloidosis and chronic inflammation. The study of new therapeutic drugs of the corresponding action, in particular miRNAs and curcominoids, as well as methods for their packaging, is topical. The aim of the work was to study the effect of miR-101 + curcumin in a single liposome in a cellular AD model. AD model was made by incubating a suspension of mononuclear cells with aggregates of beta-amyloid peptide 1-40 (Aβ40) for 1 h. The effect of the subsequent application of liposomal (L) preparations miR-101, curcumin (CUR), and miR-101 + CUR was analyzed over time of 1, 3, 6, and 12 h. A decrease in the level of endogenous Aβ42 under the influence of L(miR-101 + CUR) was revealed during the entire incubation period (1-12 h), the first part of which was overlapped due to inhibition of mRNA^APP translation by miR-101 (1-3 h), and the second-by inhibition of mRNA^APP transcription by curcumin (3-12 h), the minimum concentration of Aβ42 was recorded at 6 h. The cumulative effect of the combination drug L(miR-101 + CUR) was manifested in the suppression of the increase in the concentration of TNFα and IL-10 and a decrease in the concentration of IL-6 during the entire incubation period (1-12 h). Thus, miR-101 + CUR in one liposome enhanced each other's antiamyloidogenic and anti- inflammatory effects in a cellular AD model.

New Promising Therapeutic Avenues of Curcumin in Brain Diseases

Curcumin, the dietary polyphenol isolated from Curcuma longa (turmeric), is commonly used as an herb and spice worldwide. Because of its bio-pharmacological effects curcumin is also called "spice of life", in fact it is recognized that curcumin possesses important proprieties such as anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, antiproliferative, anti-tumoral, and anti-aging. Neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's Diseases, Parkinson's Diseases, and Multiple Sclerosis are a group of diseases characterized by a progressive loss of brain structure and function due to neuronal death; at present there is no effective treatment to cure these diseases. The protective effect of curcumin against some neurodegenerative diseases has been proven by in vivo and in vitro studies. The current review highlights the latest findings on the neuroprotective effects of curcumin, its bioavailability, its mechanism of action and its possible application for the prevention or treatment of neurodegenerative disorders.

Nano-Derived Therapeutic Formulations with Curcumin in Inflammation-Related Diseases

Due to its vast therapeutic potential, the plant-derived polyphenol curcumin is utilized in an ever-growing number of health-related applications. Here, we report the extraction methodologies, therapeutic properties, advantages and disadvantages linked to curcumin employment, and the new strategies addressed to improve its effectiveness by employing advanced nanocarriers. The emerging nanotechnology applications used to enhance CUR bioavailability and its targeted delivery in specific pathological conditions are collected and discussed. In particular, new aspects concerning the main strategic nanocarriers employed for treating inflammation and oxidative stress-related diseases are reported and discussed, with specific emphasis on those topically employed in conditions such as wounds, arthritis, or psoriasis and others used in pathologies such as bowel (colitis), neurodegenerative (Alzheimer's or dementia), cardiovascular (atherosclerosis), and lung (asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) diseases. A brief overview of the relevant clinical trials is also included. We believe the review can provide the readers with an overview of the nanostrategies currently employed to improve CUR therapeutic applications in the highlighted pathological conditions.

Strategies for brain-targeting liposomal delivery of small hydrophobic molecules in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases

Neurodegenerative diseases (NDs), including Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD), threaten the health of an ever-growing number of older people worldwide; so far, there are no effective cures. Significant efforts have been devoted to developing new drugs for NDs in recent years, and some small molecules have been shown to be promising in preclinical studies. However, the major challenge for brain-targeting drugs is how to efficiently deliver the drugs across the blood-brain barrier (BBB) to desired targets. To address this issue, liposomal delivery systems have proved to be ideal carriers for neuroprotective small molecules. Here, we summarize recent advances in the brain-targeting liposomal delivery of small hydrophobic molecules (SHMs) and propose strategies for developing liposomal SHMs as disease-modifying neurotherapeutics for NDs.