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Curcumin treatment leads to better cognitive and mood function in a model of Gulf War Illness with enhanced neurogenesis, and alleviation of inflammation and mitochondrial dysfunction in the hippocampus
Kodali et al. (2018) investigated the efficacy of curcumin in protecting rats’ cognitive and mood function since it has been reported to possess neurogenic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and memory and mood enhancing properties. On a daily basis, for 28 days, the male rats were exposed to low doses of chemicals that have been associated with the Gulf War Illness (GWI). The rodents were then randomly selected to either receive curcumin daily or a vehicle treatment for 30 days. The rats given daily curcumin showed better cognitive and mood function sixty days after treatment, indicated by behavioral assessments such as object location, novel object recognition and novelty suppressed feeding tests. Moreover, these animals demonstrated improved neurogenesis (formation of new neurons in the brain) and reduced inflammation. Furthermore, in this Gulf War Illness (GWI) rat model, curcumin appeared to increase expression of antioxidant genes and normalize expression of multiple genes related to mitochondrial respiration. The researchers conclude that curcumin is efficacious in the maintenance of memory and mood function among GWI rats. It was suggested that the enhanced neurogenesis, protection from inflammation and oxidative stress, and the normalized mitochondrial respiration may underlie curcumin’s beneficial effects on rats’ memory and mood. [NPID: herbs, cognition, mood, anti-inflammatory, memory, curcumin, turmeric, neurogenesis]
Year: 2018
