Low-dose curcumin enhances hippocampal neurogenesis and memory retention in young mice

 What is your doctor doing about this to get human testing going? Or does your doctor not give a shit about doing anything newer than medical school? WELL? Do you have a functioning stroke doctor or not?

Low-dose curcumin enhances hippocampal neurogenesis and memory retention in young mice

• Yujeong Lee,
• Hee Ra Park,
• Joo Yeon Lee,
• Jaehoon Kim,
• Seonguk Yang,
• Chany Lee,
• Kipom Kim,
• Hyung Sik Kim,
• Seung-Cheol Chang &
• Jaewon Lee 

Archives of Pharmacal Research (2023)Cite this article

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Abstract

Adult neurogenesis generates new functional neurons from adult neural stem cells in various regions, including the subventricular zone (SVZ) of the lateral ventricles and subgranular zone (SGZ) of hippocampal dentate gyrus (DG). Available evidence shows hippocampal neurogenesis can be negatively or positively regulated by dietary components. In a previous study, we reported that curcumin (diferuloylmethane; a polyphenolic found in curry spice) stimulates the proliferation of embryonic neural stem cells (NSCs) by activating adaptive cellular stress responses. Here, we investigated whether subchronic administration of curcumin (once daily at 0.4, 2, or 10 mg/kg for 14 days) promotes hippocampal neurogenesis and neurocognitive function in young (5-week-old) mice. Oral administration of low-dose curcumin (0.4 mg/kg) increased the proliferation and survival of newly generated cells in hippocampus, but surprisingly, high-dose curcumin (10 mg/kg) did not effectively upregulate the proliferation or survival of newborn cells. Furthermore, hippocampal BDNF levels and phosphorylated CREB activity were elevated in only low-dose curcumin-treated mice. Passive avoidance testing revealed that low-dose curcumin increased cross-over latency times, indicating enhanced memory retention, and an in vitro study showed that low-concentration curcumin increased the proliferative activity of neural progenitor cells (NPCs) by upregulating NF1X levels. Collectively, our findings suggest that low-dose curcumin has neurogenic effects and that it may prevent age and neurodegenerative disease-related cognitive deficits.

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