Influence of CurQfen®-curcumin on cognitive impairment: a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, 3-arm, 3-sequence comparative study

Abstract

BackgroundAlthough curcumin is a blood-brain-barrier permeable molecule with the ability to bind and segregate β-amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles of hyperphosphorylated tau proteins, its poor oral bioavailability, rapid biotransformation to inactive metabolites, fast elimination from the systemic circulation, and hence the poor neuronal uptake has been limiting its clinical efficacy under neurodegenerative conditions.ObjectiveWe hypothesized that the highly bioavailable CurQfen-curcumin (CGM), which has been shown to possess significant blood-brain-barrier permeability and brain bioavailability, would ameliorate dementia in neurodegenerative conditions.MethodsIn the present double-blinded placebo-controlled 3-arm 3-sequence comparative study, 48 subjects characterized with moderate dementia due to the onset of Alzheimer's disease were randomized into three groups (N = 16/group) and supplemented with 400 mg × 2/day of either placebo (MCC), unformulated standard curcumin complex with 95% purity (USC), or CGM as a sachet for six months. The relative changes in cognitive and locomotor functions and biochemical markers were compared.ResultsSupplementation with CGM produced significant (P < 0.05) improvement in the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and the Geriatric Locomotive Function Scale (GLFS) scores in both intra- and inter-group comparison by 2 × 2 repeated measures (RM) ANOVA. Further, analysis of the serum levels of specific biomarkers (BDNF, Aβ42, tau protein, IL-6, and TNF-α) also revealed a significant (P < 0.05) improvement among CGM subjects as compared to placebo and the USC groups.ConclusionSupplementation with CGM as sachet was found to offer significant delay in the progress of Alzheimer's disease, as evident from the improvements in locomotive and cognitive functions related to dementia.Clinical trial registrationhttp://ctri.nic.in, identifier: CTRI/2018/03/012410.

Current perspectives on fenugreek bioactive compounds and their potential impact on human health: A review of recent insights into functional foods and other high value applications

“…A growing body of evidence indicates that fenugreek could be beneficial for preventing and managing various health conditions, particularly diabetes, CVD, hypertension, obesity, cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, gut and immune function disorders, inflammatory skin diseases, rheumatoid arthritis, dysmenorrheal and postmenopausal symptoms, as well as dysfunctions of the reproductive system (Das et al., 2023; Luo et al., 2020; Srinivasa & Naidu, 2021; Syed et al., 2020; Visuvanathan et al., 2022). As summarized in Table S1, recent clinical investigations into the therapeutic potential of fenugreek have demonstrated encouraging results in a relatively large range of diseases, despite being limited by small participant numbers, short study duration (≤3 months in general), and lack of placebo‐controlled randomized control trials (RCT).…”

“…Advances in the functional characterization of fenugreek gum (GM) open the way for novel food and health applications (Dhull, Sandhu, et al., 2020; Dhull et al., 2022). Not only can GM exert potential health benefits, including prebiotic effect, improved glucose homeostasis in type 2 diabetes (T2D), and reduction in blood lipids and LDL cholesterol level (Juhasz et al., 2023; Majeed et al., 2018), but they can also function as encapsulating agent (Dhull et al., 2022) for the protection and controlled delivery of bioactive ingredients in food systems (Alu'datt et al., 2022; Das et al., 2023). One of the latest prospective applications of GM, edible film formation, would reduce the need for synthetic polymers in food packaging (Senarathna et al., 2023).…”

“…The therapeutic potential of fenugreek has been examined in many diseases and conditions based on pharmacological effects, such as hypoglycemic, antihyperlipidemic, antihypertensive, antioxidant, anti‐inflammatory, immunomodulatory, anticarcinogenic, antinociceptive, antipyretic, antiviral, antibacterial, and galactogenic activities (Singh, Yadav, et al., 2022; Syed et al., 2020). New findings suggest potential roles in appetite regulation, lipid and glucose homeostasis, as well as protective effects at the cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, hepatic, endocrine, and neurocognitive levels, some of which may be mediated by the intestinal microbiota, in addition to beneficial effects in the treatment of certain respiratory illnesses (e.g., asthma), inflammatory skin diseases, wound healing, muscle pain, dysmenorrheal and postmenopausal symptoms, and dysfunctions of the reproductive system (Das et al., 2023; Luo et al., 2020; Srinivasa & Naidu, 2021; Visuvanathan et al., 2022). Despite a vast body of work, little is known about the molecular pathways underlying the action of fenugreek bioactives in vivo.…”