trying to understand Curcumin's possible benefits

[carol7]

Curcumin allegedly can help the brain; I was interested in it from the BDNF factor, however ran across an article discussing Curcumin that is leaving me with more questions on how it may help:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2929771/

I always note the source and the date--this article is from 2010, five years old; from a reputable source.
I like the proposed BDNF effect of Curcumin but concerned about Curcumin's effects on the serotonin autoreceptors...???Am I interpreting this correctly

This article says (in simplified terms) that Curcumin's anti-depressive mechanism is via the inhibition of MAOI enzymes and effect on the autoreceptors with a net effect of higher serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine. okay, is this good, bad, or ugly for PSSD?

The messing with the autoreceptors and inhibiting the MAOI enzymes sound like causing PSSD to be worse ?? with net higher serotonin? I'm not clear if the increase in serotonin would worse PSSD unless the receptors were more sensitized and I'm not clear of curcumin effects on the receptors but it sounds like the mechanism of action is similar to ssri is that they are inhibiting normal processes. Anyone know?

[iggy131313]

hmmmm, I couldnt see hwre it mentioned the autoreceptors...its a good question and im not sure...

would an MAOI effect the autoreceptors, I guess it would, in which case it would act as an agonist and if that agonism was potent enough it would eventually worsten the pssd...BUT....have a read of this massive article, the first thing I notice is this...

Further studies show that curcumin reverses
the impairment of neurogenesis by increasing 5-HT
1A
receptor mRNA and brain-derived neurotrophic factor
expression in stressed rats

so here we see an INCREASE of 5ht1a, I dont know if thats pre synaptic or post though and dont have time to read this whole article now, have a look and let us know if anything goo is in it

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1 ... 7356.x/pdf

[carol7]

I will take a look at the article you cited, looks very detailed.The sentence in the article I cited that made me question curcumin's possible PSSD benefits is:

"It is important to mention here that monoamine oxidase is the enzyme that is involved in the degradation of norepinephrine, serotonin and dopamine. By inhibiting the activity of MAO enzyme, curcumin increases the concentration of these neurotransmitters in the synapse and thus prolonging their action."

It sounds like more neurotransmitters in the synapse; however this might only be part of the equation if curcumin also has action on the autoreceptors ? Not sure what that action is. The article I cited above (2010) mentions effects to the serotonin autoreceptors but doesn't specify the mechanism.

[Sonny]

I got some improvements with curcumin. It didn't do much while I was taking it, but it seemed to resensitize the 5HT1A receptors.