Curcumin Flushes Out Plaques in Alzheimer's Disease

Researchers have discovered that curcumin--a chemical found in curry and turmeric--may help the immune system clear the brain of amyloid beta, which form the plaques found in Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients.

Published in the October 9, 2006, issue of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, these early findings may lead to a new approach in treating AD by enhancing the natural function of the immune system using curcumin, known for its anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties.

Using blood samples from six AD patients and three healthy control patients, the researchers isolated cells called macrophages, which are the immune system's cleaning team that travel through the brain and body, gulping up waste products, including amyloid beta.

The team of researchers, from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA; USA)/Veterans Administration (VA), treated the macrophages with a drug derived from curcumin for 24 hours in a cell culture and then introduced amyloid beta. Treated macrophages from three out of six AD patients showed improved uptake or ingestion of the waste product compared to the patients' macrophages not treated with curcumin. Macrophages from the healthy controls, which were already effectively clearing amyloid beta, showed no change when curcumin was added.

"Curcumin improved ingestion of amyloid beta by immune cells in 50% of patients with Alzheimer's disease. These initial findings demonstrate that curcumin may help boost the immune system of specific Alzheimer's disease patients,” said Dr. Milan Fiala, study author and a researcher with the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and the VA Greater Los Angeles Health Care System. "We are hopeful that these positive results in a test tube may translate to clinical use, but more studies need to be done before curcumin can be recommended.” The patients ranged in age from 65 to 84.

Dr. Fiala noted that the patients whose immune cells responded were younger and had higher scores on a Mini-Mental State Examination, suggesting that curcumin may help those with less advanced dementia. Some of the patients may have already had additional curcumin in their systems due to participation in another UCLA study, which may have impacted findings.

"Our next step will be to identify the factors that helped these immune cells respond,” said Dr. Laura Zhang, a study author and a UCLA/VA research assistant in Dr. Fiala's lab.

Dr. Fiala noted that the method researchers used to assess the immune cell response of macrophages may provide an innovative way of evaluating the effectiveness of drugs in clearing amyloid beta from the brain and may help to customize Alzheimer's disease treatment.

According to Dr. Fiala, macrophages are the defense forces of the innate immune system--the part of the immune system that is present at birth. Curcumin may support the body's natural immune fighting function in directly helping macrophages clean away amyloid-beta. The treatment of macrophages with curcumin is fundamentally different from some of the vaccine approaches currently being investigated.



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