Prospects for the use of curcumin as an additional treatment for multiple sclerosis

Abstract

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic demyelinating autoimmune disease. MS therapy does not always allow slowing of disease progression and also has significant side effects, such as immunosuppressive effects (especially when second-line disease-modifying therapies (DMT) are used). In this context, it is important to explore novel approaches to MS therapy that may improve the therapeutic potential of first line DMTs and reduce the likelihood of switching to switch to second line DMTs. Curcumin is one of the promising candidates for such application. Several anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective effects of curcumin have been reported in the literature, which could be considered for such applications. The favorable safety profile of this compound is also important. Over the past decade, encouraging clinical data have been obtained on the use of curcumin as part of adjunctive therapy for MS. However, to date, there are inadequate clinical studies on the use of curcumin in the therapy of MS. This may be due to the fact that curcumin, like other polyphenols, has low bioavailability, which limits its therapeutic potential. Recently, new highly bioavailable forms of curcumin have been developed (e.g., nanoemulsions). In this regard, it is promising to conduct new clinical trials of curcumin as an adjunctive therapy in MS, especially using its forms with increased bioavailability.