Efficacy of Curcumin in Ameliorating Aluminum- Induced Neurotoxicity

Background-The present study evaluated the efficacy of curcumin as a nutritional supplement in preventing aluminum-induced neurotoxicity in rats. Methods-The rats were segregated into four groups, which included normal controls and aluminum-treated, curcumin- treated, and aluminum- and curcumin-treated animals. Results-Eight weeks of aluminum treatment resulted in a significant increase in the levels of lipid peroxidation (LPO) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) in both cerebellum and cerebrum as compared to normal animals. In contrast, the activities of glutathione-S-transferase (GST), glutathione reductase (GR), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and reduced glutathione (GSH) levels were found to be significantly decreased following aluminum treatment. Furthermore, aluminum resulted in anxiety in rats as determined with the elevated plus maze test. In addition, an appreciable decrease was noticed in both muscular and locomotor activity of aluminum-treated animals, as determined by rotarod and actophotometer tests, respectively. However, in aluminum-treated animals that also received curcumin supplements, the already raised levels of LPO and ROS returned to near normal limits in the cerebrum. Moreover, curcumin treatment of the aluminum-treated animals also resulted in a significant improvement in the levels of GSH and enzyme activities of GST in both the cerebrum and cerebellum. Also, improvement was observed in the behavior of aluminum-treated animals upon curcumin supplementation. Conclusion-The present study suggests that curcumin may act as a neuroprotectant against aluminum-induced neurodegenerative and behavioral disorders, but further investigations are needed to understand the exact mechanism of neuroprotection.