Researchers found 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.
Published
in the Oct. 9 issue of the Journal of Alzheimer's
Disease, the early laboratory findings may
lead to a new approach in treating Alzheimer's
disease 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 Alzheimer's disease patients and three
healthy control patients, the researchers
isolated cells called macrophages, which are
the immune system's PacMen that travel through
the brain and body, gobbling up waste products,
including amyloid beta.
The team 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 Alzheimer's disease 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 percent 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.
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 Laura Zhang,
a study author and a UCLA/VA research assistant
in Fiala's lab.
Fiala noted that the
method researchers used to test the immune
cell response of macrophages may provide a
novel way of evaluating the effectiveness
of drugs in clearing amyloid beta from the
brain and may help to individualize Alzheimer's
disease treatment.
According to Fiala, macrophages
are the soldiers of the innate immune system
-- the part of the immune system which 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 radically different from some of the vaccine
approaches currently being studied.
The study was funded
by the Alzheimer's Disease Association and
private donors. The curcumin derived drug
was provided by the Sabinsa Corporation, a
company that manufacturers phytonutrients
and specialty chemicals for nutritional, pharmaceutical
and food industries. Fiala participated in
a speaking engagement for Sabinsa.
