Fri, Aug 19, 2016 page3

• Researchers find turmeric helps prevent Alzheimer’s

  CURCUMIN DERIVATIVES: Polyhydroxycurcuminoids, which are found in turmeric, can boost neprilysin activity to prevent the formation of senile plaques, scientists said

  • By Chen Wei-han / Staff reporter
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  Academia Sinica researchers have discovered that curcumin derivatives, which are commonly found in Indian cuisine such as curries and turmeric rice, can help prevent Alzheimer’s disease, overturning a common assumption that it is curcumin itself that prevents the disease.

  India has a relatively lower incidence rate of Alzheimer’s, with people four times less likely to get the disease than in the US, Academia Sinica associate research fellow Rita Pei-yeh Chen (陳佩燁) said on Tuesday.

  The popular assumption is it is curcumin — a major component of turmeric, which is commonly added to food in India — that makes Indians less susceptible to the disease, Chen said.

  However, a team led by Chen found that polyhydroxycurcuminoids, a type of curcumin derivative, may be useful in preventing Alzheimer’s.

  The disease is characterized by neurofibrillary tangles and senile plaques in the brain. Senile plaques are mainly composed of amyloid-beta peptides that are produced in the brain during protein catabolism, Chen said.

  Polyhydroxycurcuminoids can boost the activity of neprilysin, an enzyme that degrades amyloid beta, thereby preventing the formation of senile plaques, she said.

  Neprilysin activity and performance decreases with age, and if the rate of amyloid beta production exceeds its rate of degradation, amyloid beta can accumulate in the brain and form senile plaques, resulting in the death of neurons.

  The team designed a highly sensitive neprilysin detection system to screen 25 curcumin compounds for their ability to increase neprilysin activity, and results from its tests in mice and cell models indicated that polyhydroxycurcuminoids — and not curcumin itself — upregulated neprilysin activity.

  Curcumin has very poor solubility and bioavailability, and it has little effect to simulate neprilysin activity.

  “Scientists have focused their research on the potential health effect of curcumin, and the team’s results might provide a new promising strategy in the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease,” she said.

  “Although the amount of polyhydroxycurcuminoids in turmeric is limited, daily consumption of turmeric might have helped prevent Alzheimer’s among Indians,” she said.

  Instead of deliberately eating turmeric, adopting a balanced diet is more practical for Taiwanese, she said.

  As of 2013, there were more than 190,000 people with Alzheimer’s disease in Taiwan, she said.

  Since the average life expectancy after diagnosis with Alzheimer’s varies from four to 20 years, medical and non-medical care for Alzheimer’s patients can lead to significant economic and social burden.

  The team has acquired patents and has been approached by pharmaceutical companies to develop new medicines, she said.

  The research was published in the academic journal Scientific Reports last month.
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