Curry Consumption and Cognitive Function in the Elderly

Abstract

Curcumin, from the curry spice turmeric, has been shown to possess potent antioxidant and antiinflammatory properties and to reduce beta-amyloid and plaque burden in experimental studies, but epidemiologic evidence is lacking. The authors investigated the association between usual curry consumption level and cognitive function in elderly Asians. In a population-based cohort (n = 1,010) of nondemented elderly Asian subjects aged 60-93 years in 2003, the authors compared Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores for three categories of regular curry consumption, taking into account known sociodemographic, health, and behavioral correlates of MMSE performance. Those who consumed curry "occasionally" and "often or very often" had significantly better MMSE scores than did subjects who "never or rarely" consumed curry. The authors reported tentative evidence of better cognitive performance from curry consumption in nondemented elderly Asians, which should be confirmed in future studies.

Curcumin Alters the Salt Bridge-containing Turn Region in Amyloid β(1–42) Aggregates

“…We note that the Phe-19 -Leu-34 contacts in A␤ 42 are thought to be intramolecular, whereas the salt bridge connecting Lys-28 and Asp-23 is thought to be between neighboring strands (35). Thus curcumin (like Zn 2ϩ ) seems to 4 B. Sahoo, unpublished data. preserve the gross intramolecular conformation, while disrupting the intermolecular arrangements.…”

“…Evidence for such a mode of action has indeed been seen for A␤ 40 -Zn 2ϩ (17,21) and also for A␤ 40 -Cur. 4 …”

“…Curcumin, a phenolic compound from the Asian spice turmeric (Curcuma longa), is of great interest for its plausible role in countering neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson disease (1-3) and Alzheimer disease (AD) 3 (4,5). In vitro studies have shown that curcumin can retard the process of amyloid ␤ (A␤) aggregation (5,6), which is supposed to be the initiator of AD.…”

Curcumin as “Curecumin”: From kitchen to clinic

“…However, in a recent large, population-based study of 1010 elderly nondemented Asians, those who consumed curry ''occasionally'' and ''often or very often'' scored significantly better on the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), a established measure of cognitive function, than did those who ''never or rarely'' consumed curry [190]. At the least, this finding warrants further investigation of curcumin's cognitive effects.…”

Impact of diet on adult hippocampal neurogenesis

“…However, neurons induced in response to supra-physiological levels of caffeine have a lower survival rate than control cells and increased proliferation does not yield an increase in AHN [121]. Curcumin is a natural phenolic component of yellow curry spice that increases AHN in rodents [53] and epidemiological studies have reported better cognitive performance from curry Mouse Increased survival [62], [61], [54], [8] Omega 3 fatty acids Rat Increased (DHA) [46] Flavonoids Rat, chronically stressed Increased proliferation [3] Blueberry Rat Increased proliferation [12] Curcumin low concentrations Mouse Increased proliferation [53] Retinoic acid excess Mouse Decreased proliferation [16] Vitamin A deficiency Rat Decreased proliferation (rescued with retinoic acid) [9] Thiamine deficiency Mouse Decreased proliferation/survival [128] Zinc deficiency Rat male Decreased proliferation/survival [14] Folate consumption in ageing populations [83]. Moreover, in vitro studies have shown that curcumin exerted biphasic effects on progenitor cells; low concentrations stimulated cell proliferation, whereas high concentrations were cytotoxic.…”