A new animal study published in the journal Antioxidants showed high bioavailability for BCM-95, a curcumin extract which is marketed as Curcugreen by Arjuna Natural, in transgenic mice modeled after Alzheimer’s disease. The curcumin formulation was able to significantly reduce markers of organ damage following a two-month supplementation period.
 
The researchers in the study posited that the potent antioxidant, inflammatory-modulating, and anti-amyloid properties of curcumin could attenuate organ damage in animals modeled after Alzheimer’s disease if administered in a bioavailable formulation. While Alzheimer’s is commonly associated with dementia, research is also connecting it to metabolic disorders which can cause progressive damage to areas other than the central nervous system, with damage in areas such as the liver, spleen, lungs, kidneys, and brain stem, the authors said.
 
In the new study, which was conducted by researchers at the Field Neurosciences Institute in Central Michigan University, genetically-engineered mice designed as models for Alzheimer’s disease were administered a daily dose of 100mg/kg of BCM-95 for two months, with changes in the spleen, liver, kidney, and lungs investigated for cell death, amyloid deposition, pTau (nerve fiber markers of Alzheimer’s) levels, pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory markers, and overall cell death and survival markers. The health outcomes of these mice were then compared with control transgenic mice in order to measure the differences.
 
The authors of the study reported that Curcugreen reduced markers of enlargement and degeneration of the spleen, inflammation of the kidney, lung damage, and damage to the liver, which included the enlargement of liver cells and inflammation of the central hepatic vein. The results also showed that in al of these areas, there was a significant reduction of cell death.
 
In the brains of the animals studied, the authors noted a decrease in amyloid deposition, pTau, cell loss, and reductions in inflammatory markers.
 
BCM-95 is an extract which is categorized for the unusually high bioavailability of its curcuminoid compounds, several fold greater than natural curcumin, the authors of the study said, which appears to be relevant to the significance of the changes seen in the test animals.
 
While these findings are not yet matched with any data extrapolating these health outcomes to humans, the authors of the study said that in transgenic AD mice, the curcumin extract significantly attenuated many markers of organ damage, and was bioavailable to most of the peripheral organs in the mice, with a protective effect even in concentrations that only reach micromolar levels.