Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a debilitating and fatal neurodegenerative disease characterised by the progressive loss of motor functions affecting both upper and lower motor neurons. Although considered multifactorial with an unclear aetiology, it is believed that the interplay between genetic and environmental factors, with neuroinflammation playing a key role in disease progression, contributes to its development. There is currently no effective treatment for ALS. Curcumin has been recently highlighted for its potential therapeutic role in treating neurodegenerative diseases. Curcumin phospholipids, a highly bioavailable form of curcumin that allow the curcumin to be absorbed into the bloodstream more effectively than standard curcumin extracts, is considered as a natural cytokine-suppressive anti-inflammatory compound (CSAID) that is well-known for its therapeutic properties and is considered safe for humans and rodents at low to moderate concentrations. In this study, we investigated whether a long-term feeding regimen incorporating curcuminoids phospholipids-enriched diet early in disease progression could mitigate motor deficits and affect the lifespan of the SOD1 mouse model of familial ALS ( f ALS). Our results indicate sex-differences regarding the effect of curcumin supplementation on motor deficits and anxiety-like behaviour. While long-term feeding with curcuminoids phospholipids enriched diet had a complex effect on SOD1 female mice expressed as reduced anxiety like behaviour and motor deficits at the walking beam test, it had no effect on SOD1 male mice. Moreover, curcuminoids supplementation had a limited effect on disease onset and progression in SOD1 mice model for f ALS. • ALS is a fatal neurodegenerative disease characterised by the progressive loss of motor functions • SOD1 mouse model for f ALS shows sexual dimorphism in regard to disease onset and progression • Long-term feeding with phytosomal curcumin enriched diet led to reduced anxiety like behavior and improved fine motor deficits in female SOD1 mice • Curcumin supplementation had a no significant effect on disease onset and progression in SOD1 mice model for f ALS
Purushotham et al. (Fri,) studied this question.