title: Optimized Turmeric Extract Reduces β-Amyloid and Phosphorylated Tau Protein Burden in Alzheimer’s Transgenic Mice
abstract: In a previous in vitro study, the standardized turmeric extract, HSS-888, showed strong inhibition of Aβ aggregation and secretion in vitro, indicating that HSS-888 might be therapeutically important. Therefore, in the present study, HSS-888 was evaluated in vivo using transgenic ‘Alzheimer’ mice (Tg2576) over-expressing Aβ protein. Following a six-month prevention period where mice received extract HSS-888 (5mg/mouse/day), tetrahydrocurcumin (THC) or a control through ingestion of customized animal feed pellets (0.1% w/w treatment), HSS-888 significantly reduced brain levels of soluble (~40%) and insoluble (~20%) Aβ as well as phosphorylated Tau protein (~80%). In addition, primary cultures of microglia from these mice showed increased expression of the cytokines IL-4 and IL-2. In contrast, THC treatment only weakly reduced phosphorylated Tau protein and failed to significantly alter plaque burden and cytokine expression. The findings reveal that the optimized turmeric extract HSS-888 represents an important step in botanical based therapies for Alzheimer’s disease by inhibiting or improving plaque burden, Tau phosphorylation, and microglial inflammation leading to neuronal toxicity.
authors.affiliation: Center for Excellence in Aging and Brain Repair, Dept. of Neurosurgery, University of South Florida College of Medicine, Tampa, FL 33612, USA.
authors.forename: R Douglas
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Shytle
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Paula C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Bickford
authors.forename: Kavon
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Rezai-Zadeh
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.forename: Paul R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Sanberg
authors.forename: Cyndy D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Sanberg
authors.forename: Randall S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Alberte
authors.forename: Ryan C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Fink
authors.forename: Bill
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Roschek
mesh_terms: D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides / Q000378:metabolism*; D016564:Amyloid beta-Protein Precursor / Q000235:genetics; D000686:Amyloidosis / Q000188:drug therapy; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D030024:Curcuma; D016207:Cytokines / Q000378:metabolism; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000378:metabolism; D010766:Phosphorylation / Q000187:drug effects; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016875:tau Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides; D016564:Amyloid beta-Protein Precursor; D000975:Antioxidants; D016207:Cytokines; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D010936:Plant Extracts; C078592:amyloid beta-protein (1-40); C075222:amyloid beta-protein (1-42); D016875:tau Proteins; C012596:turmeric extract