Efficacy of curcumin therapy against Angiostrongylus cantonensis-induced eosinophilic meningitis

Abstract

Angiostrongylus cantonensis can invade the central nervous system, leading to human eosinophilic meningitis or eosinophilic meningoencephalitis. Curcumin is a natural product which has the effects of anti-inflammation, anti-oxidation and anti-carcinogensis, while the administration of curcumin has been reported to possibly relieve the symptoms of meningitis. The present study tested the potential efficacy of curcumin in A. cantonensis-induced eosinophilic meningitis of BALB/c mice. Assay indicators for the therapeutic effect included the larvicidal effect, eosinophil counts and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) activity in angiostrongyliasis. Eosinophils were mildly reduced in treatment groups compared with infected-untreated mice. However, there were no significant differences in larvicidal effects or MMP-9 activity. This study suggests that anti-inflammatory treatment with curcumin alone has low efficacy, but the treatment does not interfere with MMP-9 expression and is not useful for larvicidal effects. The possible reasons include low curcumin across the blood-brain barrier and also those larvae that survive stimulate MMP-9 production, which promotes blood-brain barrier damage, with leukocytes then crossing the blood-brain barrier to cause meningitis. Further studies will be required to test these possibilities.

Human Angiostrongylus cantonensis: an update

“…The combination of corticosteroids and anthelminthics has been commonly used for treatment of human angiostrongyliasis ( [62], and also see review in Wang et al [2]). Currently, some Chinese herbal medicines display efficacy for treating angiostrongyliasis in animal studies but have not been used in humans [63][64][65][66][67]. Surgery is required to remove worms from the eyes of patients with ocular angiostrongyliasis.…”

Curcumin Protects Dopaminergic Neuron Against LPS Induced Neurotoxicity in Primary Rat Neuron/Glia Culture

“…The potential therapeutic benefits of nature diet compound are receiving more and more attention. Curcumin, a diferuloylmethane, is a major active component of the food flavor turmeric (Curcuma longa) that has been shown to have anti-oxidation [14][15][16] and antiinflammation effects [17][18][19][20]. Besides, several reports documented that curcumin was protective to 6-OHDA-, MPP + -and MPTP-induced neurotoxicity through its antioxidation effect [21][22][23].…”

Angiostrongylus cantonensis (Nematode: Metastrongiloidea): In Vitro Cultivation of Infective Third-Stage Larvae to Fourth-Stage Larvae

“…Following digestion, the snail tissue suspension was allowed to stand for 30 min and larvae in the sediment were observed under a microscope. The morphological criteria for AcL3 were a length of 422 to 525 mm, a width of 24 to 35 mm and the termination of the tail at a fine point [14], [15]. Larvae that exhibited the greatest activity and fast s-type movement were utilized in the experiments.…”