Curcumin as Add-On to Antipsychotic Treatment in Patients With Chronic Schizophrenia: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study

Abstract

Background Introduction of old and new generations of antipsychotics leads to significant improvements in the positive symptoms of schizophrenia. However, negative symptoms remain refractory to conventional trials of antipsychotic therapy. Recently, there were several open clinical human trials with curcumin. Curcumin is a natural polyphenol, which has a variety of pharmacological activities, including antioxidative and neuroprotective effects. The studies showed that curcumin improved the negative symptoms of schizophrenia. The purpose of our study was to examine the efficacy of curcumin as an add-on agent to regular antipsychotic medications in patients with chronic schizophrenia. Methods Thirty-eight patients with chronic schizophrenia were enrolled in a 24-week, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study. The subjects were treated with either 3000 mg/d curcumin or placebo combined with antipsychotics from January 2015 to February 2017. The outcome measures were the Positive and Negative Symptoms Scale (PANSS) and the Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia. Results Analysis of variance showed significant positive changes in both groups from baseline to the end of the study in all scales of measurement. There was a significant response to curcumin within 6 months in total PANSS (P = 0.02) and in the negative symptoms subscale (P = 0.04). There were no differences in the positive and general PANSS subscales, and the Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia scores between the treatment and placebo groups. No patient complained of any adverse effect. Conclusions The promising results of curcumin as an add-on to antipsychotics in the treatment of negative symptoms may open a new and safe therapeutic option for the management of schizophrenia. However, these results should be replicated in further studies. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT 02298985

Beneficial effects of nano‐curcumin supplement on depression and anxiety in diabetic patients with peripheral neuropathy: A randomized, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled clinical trial

“…Curcumin is a plant alkaloid obtained from Curcuma longa with potent anti‐inflammatory and antioxidant effects. In addition, curcumin has shown neuroprotective effects in animal models of Alzheimer's disease (Mishra & Palanivelu, ), Parkinson's disease (Mythri & Bharath, ), and schizophrenia (Miodownik et al, ). The antidepressant effects of curcumin have been explored in different animal models, which act through lowering inflammation, protecting against oxidative stress, and modulating the release of serotonin and dopamine.…”

Help-Seeking Behavior of Individuals With Schizophrenia in the General Population of Hunan, China

“…(1) Of the 367 participants, 68.9% (253/367) sought help; of those, 64.6% (n=163) pursued professional psychiatric services and 30.8% (n=78) pursued non-medical options (i.e., relatives, praying to Buddha) as the most common first choices. (2) The help-seeking behavior ratio (seeking help individuals/total sample size) is significantly lower in the illiterate group than in other education levels. Those with a family history of mental disorders tend to have a higher help-seeking behavior ratio.…”

“…Schizophrenia (SZ) is a chronic, recurrent and severe mental disorder prevailing in about 0.63% to 0.94% of the population (with an average annual rate of 0.81%) [1].Most people with SZ benefit from antipsychotic treatment [2]with early diagnosis being critical. Unfortunately, many individuals with SZ avoid getting help, estimates of 20% to 70% do not seek for help worldwide as shown in previous studies [3].…”

In vitro model of perimenopausal depression implicates steroid metabolic and proinflammatory genes

“…MLN2238, a proteasome inhibitor, and Curcumin, the active anti-inflammatory ingredient in turmeric, were the top compounds projected to reverse the E2-withdrawal DEG signature ( Figure S9B ), with Curcumin comprising 5 of the top 50 hits to the database. Curcumin has a growing literature that suggests it can decrease anxiety or alleviate depression-like symptoms in animal models for depression 68 , 69 , neurological disease 70 , and schizophrenia 71 . A recent meta-analysis of several studies on curcumin, including placebo-controlled trials, concluded that curcumin is safe and effective in helping alleviate symptoms of depression in patients 72 .…”