Efficacy of curcumin therapy against Angiostrongylus cantonensis-induced eosinophilic meningitis.
Angiostrongylus cantonensis can invade the central nervous system, leading to human eosinophilic meningitis or eosinophilic meningoencephalitis. Curcumin is a natural product which has the effects of anti-inflammation, anti-oxidation and anti-carcinogensis, while the administration of curcumin has been reported to possibly relieve the symptoms of meningitis. The present study tested the potential efficacy of curcumin in A. cantonensis-induced eosinophilic meningitis of BALB/c mice. Assay indicators for the therapeutic effect included the larvicidal effect, eosinophil counts and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) activity in angiostrongyliasis. Eosinophils were mildly reduced in treatment groups compared with infected-untreated mice. However, there were no significant differences in larvicidal effects or MMP-9 activity. This study suggests that anti-inflammatory treatment with curcumin alone has low efficacy, but the treatment does not interfere with MMP-9 expression and is not useful for larvicidal effects. The possible reasons include low curcumin across the blood-brain barrier and also those larvae that survive stimulate MMP-9 production, which promotes blood-brain barrier damage, with leukocytes then crossing the blood-brain barrier to cause meningitis. Further studies will be required to test these possibilities.
Shih
P C
PC
Department of Parasitology, Chung Shan Medical University, 110, Section 1, Chien-Kuo North Road, Taichung 402, Taiwan. shih@csmu.edu.tw
Lee
H H
HH
Lai
S C
SC
Chen
K M
KM
Jiang
S T
ST
Chen
Y F
YF
Shiow
S J
SJ
D017185:Angiostrongylus cantonensis / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000469:parasitology; D000818:Animals; D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003474:Curcumin / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D008581:Meningitis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology / Q000469:parasitology; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D017206:Strongylida Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000469:parasitology
D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal; D003474:Curcumin