Several neurodegenerative disorders, such as multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, and Parkinson's disease, are associated with inflammatory damage. The complex process of neuroinflammation involves various components of the immune system and the central nervous system. Particularly, brain astrocytes and microglial cells generate several inflammatory mediators like cytokines, leukotrienes, superoxide radicals, eicasonoids, and the components of the complement cascade. Complement plays an important role in the etiology of most of the neuroinflammatory disorders. To prevent long-term dysfunction inflammation in the central nervous system must be modulated with neuroprotective agents such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, steroids, phenolic thiazoles, nitrones, catechins, nitric oxide synthetase inhibitors, flavonoids, and phosphodiesterase inhibitors. Few drugs are found to be effective and their therapeutic benefit is hampered by side effects. Most of the neuroprotective agents are free radical scavengers and many inhibit only one or two aspects of inflammation. The complement inhibitory activity of most of these agents is either unknown or not established. Thus, there is doubt regarding their therapeutic value in most of the inflammatory disorders in which complement plays a major role. In this context the role of a multifunctional protein, vaccinia virus complement control protein (VCP), is quite significant as it may play a pivotal role in the treatment of several neuroinflammatory disorders. VCP is known to inhibit both complement pathways involved in inflammation. It is also known to inhibit cytokines and chemokines in inflammation. Our recent studies on rats demonstrate that VCP administration inhibits macrophage infiltration, reduces spinal cord destruction, and improves motor skills associated with spinal cord injury, establishing VCP as a strong candidate for neuroprotection. Thus, complement inhibitors such as VCP can serve as neuroprotective agents in inflammation associated with several neurodegenerative disorders.

The upregulated complement system plays a damaging role in disorders of the central nervous system (CNS). The classical and alternate pathways are two major pathways activated in neuroinflammatory disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, HIV-associated dementia, Parkinson's disease, and mad cow disease. Failure of currently available anti-inflammatory agents, especially cyclooxygenase inhibitors, in offering significant neuroprotection in large epidemiologic clinical trials of CNS disorders suggests an urgent need for the development of new neuroprotective agents. The positive preclinical outcomes in treating CNS disorders by complement regulatory molecules, such as vaccinia virus complement control protein, suggest the possibility of using complement-inhibitory molecules as neuroprotective agents. Several active ingredients of herbal origin are found to have complement-inhibitory activity. These herbal ingredients along with other anti-inflammatory roles might be useful in treating neuroinflammation associated with CNS disorders. Active ingredients of herbal origin with complement inhibitory ingredients are summarized and classified according to their chemical nature and specificity towards the major pathways activating the complement system. The structure activity relationship of some specific examples is also discussed in this report. This information might be helpful in formulating a natural panacea against complement-mediated neuroinflammation.

Curcumin (Cur), the golden yellow phenolic compound in turmeric, is well studied for its medicinal properties. In the current investigation, Cur dissolved using sodium hydroxide solution (CurNa) was tested for in vitro complement inhibitory activity and compared with rosmarinic acid (RA) and quercetin (Qur) dissolved using sodium hydroxide (RANa and QurNa, respectively) and the vaccinia virus complement control protein (VCP). The comparative study indicated that CurNa inhibited the classical complement pathway dose dependently (IC50 = 404 microM). CurNa was more active than RANa, but less active than QurNa. VCP was about 2,212, 2,786, and 4,520 times more active than QurNa, CurNa, and RANa, respectively. Further study revealed that CurNa dose dependently inhibited zymosan-induced activation of the alternate pathway of complement activation.

Widespread neuroinflammation in the central nervous system (CNS) of Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients, involving pro-inflammatory mediators such as complement components, might be responsible for AD associated behavioral symptoms such as anxiety. Vaccinia virus complement control protein (VCP) and curcumin (Cur) are the bioactive compounds of natural origin shown to inhibit the in-vitro complement activation. In order to develop complement regulatory compounds which could be delivered to the CNS by a non-invasive route, VCP, its truncated version (tVCP), and Cur were administered to Wistar rats intranasally. The distribution of these compounds in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was studied using an enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), using VCP and tVCP as antigens and a modified fluorimetric method (Cur). VCP and tVCP were also detected in the olfactory lobes of the rat brain using immunohistochemical analysis. These compounds were then compared for their ability to attenuate the anxiety levels in APPswePS1δE9 mice using an elevated plus maze (EPM) apparatus. VCP treatment significantly improved the exploratory behavior and reduced the anxiety behavior in APPswePS1δE9 mice. tVCP however showed an opposite effect to VCP, whereas Cur showed no effect on the anxiety behavior of these mice. When these mice were subsequently tested for their cognitive performance in the Morris water maze (MWM), they showed tendencies to collide with the periphery of the walls of MWM. This unusual activity was termed "kissperi" behavior. This newly defined index of anxiety was comparable to the anxiety profile of the VCP and tVCP treated groups on EPM. VCP can thus be delivered to the CNS effectively via intranasal route of administration to attenuate anxiety associated with AD.

One of the key pro-inflammatory mediators activated by amyloid protein in neurodegenerative disorders of the brain, such as Alzheimer's disease is the complement system. Vaccinia virus complement control protein secreted by vaccinia virus, commonly known as VCP, was found to inhibit amyloid protein mediated up-regulation of complement system in vitro. In the current research investigation, VCP was administered twice (First dose at 3 weeks and the second dose at 6-7 months) intracranially into the parietal cortical area of Mo/Hu APPswe transgenic mice. At the age of 2 years or more, the same mice were subjected to cued-learning, spatial learning, probe and reverse probe trial paradigms of cheese board maze tasks for cognitive assessment. A significant difference was observed between VCP treated mice and the transgenic controls on days two and three of the cued trials and probe trials. The VCP treated group showed a similar trend as revealed during the spatial learning trial and reverse probe trial. A differential pattern of thioflavine S staining was observed in the VCP treated group. These results suggest that administration of VCP at an early age in transgenic mice may be effective in regulating the progression to the familial form of Alzheimer's disease at a later age.