Turmeric: protects and regenerates neurons

Turmerone, a compound found in turmeric, is able to stimulate the proliferation of brain stem cells and promote the growth of new neurons in laboratory animals. Turmerone thus emerges as a potential future drug to support cell regeneration in neurological disorders.

This discovery was made by Dr. Adele Rueger and her colleagues at the Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine in Jülich (Germany). The research, published in the journal Stem Cell Research & Therapy, investigated the effects of turmerone on neural stem cells both in vitro and in vivo.

The effects of turmeric

Curcuma longa is a spice with various beneficial properties. Curcumin and turmerone are two of its main bioactive compounds. Many studies have shown that curcumin has anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective properties. The effects of turmerone, however, remain to be clarified. It is attributed with antitumor and anti-inflammatory properties of neuronal tissue. In particular, it seems to prevent the activation of microglial cells, brain cells that induce neuroinflammation associated with various disorders such as neurodegenerative diseases and stroke.

Turmerone increases the growth of brain stem cells

Since it constitutes a promising therapeutic agent for various neurological disorders, the study tested the action of turmerone on neural stem cells, which, by differentiating into neurons, play an important role in the brain’s self-repair. Neural stem cells from rats, cultured in vitro, were treated with six different concentrations of turmerone (from 3.125 to 25 µg/mL). 

After three days, the treatment led to an increase in the number of neural stem cells due to enhanced proliferation. Specifically, treatment with certain turmerone concentrations significantly increased the percentage of proliferating stem cells from 50% to 80%. The team then tested the effects of turmerone in vivo. PET, a nuclear medicine imaging technique, revealed in animals injected with the compound an expansion of the subventricular zone and the hippocampus, brain areas where new neurons are generated in adult mammals.

Turmerone as a therapeutic option?

The study shows that turmerone is able to increase the number of neural stem cells both in cell culture and in the brains of adult rats. This increase is due to greater proliferation of neural stem cells and leads to the generation of new neurons during differentiation. While various substances have been described to promote the proliferation of brain stem cells, few are known to promote stem cell differentiation into neuronal cells, which is an important goal in regenerative medicine. The results on turmerone represent a step forward toward achieving this goal. 

Among our products we recommend Omegor Antiage, which contains a Curcuma L. extract standardized in curcumin. To stay updated on the latest news from scientific research on Omega 3, subscribe to our newsletter.  

Source: Joerg Hucklenbroich, Rebecca Klein, Bernd Neumaier, Rudolf Graf, Gereon Rudolf Fink, Michael Schroeter, and Maria Adele Rueger “Aromatic-turmerone induces neural stem cell proliferation in vitro and in vivo”. Stem Cell Res Ther. 2014; 5(4): 100.