Title:Mechanism of Curcuma longa and Its Neuroactive Components for the Management of Epileptic Seizures: A Systematic Review
Volume: 19
Issue: 9
Author(s): Brandon Kar Meng Choo and Mohd. Farooq Shaikh*
Affiliation:
- Neuropharmacology Research Laboratory, Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Monash University Malaysia, Selangor,Malaysia
Keywords:
Turmeric, Curcuma longa, Epilepsy, Seizures, Curcumin, α-tumerone, β-turmerone, ar-turmerone, α-atlantone.
Abstract: Curcuma longa (Turmeric) is a tropical herbaceous perennial plant of the family Zingiberaceae
and contains curcuminoids, sesquiterpenoids and monoterpenoids as its major components.
Given the broad range of activities that Curcuma longa possesses and also its use as a traditional
epilepsy remedy, this review attempts to systematically review the experimentally proven activities
of Curcuma longa and its bioactive components, which are related to the management of epileptic
seizures. Using the PRISMA model, five databases (Google Scholar, PubMed, ScienceDirect,
SCOPUS and SpringerLink) were searched using the keywords [“Curcuma longa” AND
“Epilepsy”] and [“Curcuma longa” AND “Seizures”], leaving 34 articles that met the inclusion
criteria. The present systematic review elaborated on the experimentally proven potential of Curcuma
longa components, such as an aqueous extract of Curcuma longa itself, Curcuma longa oil
and active constituents like curcuminoids and bisabolene sesquiterpenoids found in Curcuma longa
with anti-seizure potential. Using human equivalent dose calculations, human treatment parameters
were suggested for each component by analysing the various studies in this review. This review
also determined that the principal components possibly exert their anti-seizure effect via the
reduction of corticosterone, modulation of neurotransmitters signalling, modulation of sodium ion
channels, reduction of oxidative DNA damage, reduction of lipid peroxidation, upgregulation of
brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) mediated inhibition. It
is anticipated that this review will help pave the way for future research into the development of
Curcuma longa and its neuroactive constituents as potential drug candidates for the management of
epilepsy.