Research Demonstrates that Optimized Turmeric Extract Inhibits Amyloid-Beta...

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HerbalScience Research Demonstrates that Optimized Turmeric Extract Inhibits
Amyloid-Beta Accumulation, a Hallmark of Alzheimer's Disease
- Results of Laboratory Study Detecting Previously Unidentified Bioactives in
Standardized Turmeric Extract Will Be Published in Upcoming Issue of Current
Alzheimer's Research -




NAPLES, Fla., Sept. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Alzheimer's disease is the most common
cause of dementia among the elderly and is projected to increase in prevalence
over the next decades as the population ages -- creating an urgent need for
treatments that will prevent or reverse the now-inexorable course of cognitive
deterioration and memory loss. Because development of synthetic drugs is
expensive and complex, many researchers are focusing on botanical extracts
whose benefits have been documented by traditional medicine systems. In that
vein, scientists with HerbalScience Group LLC, working with researchers from
other organizations and medical institutions, conducted an in-depth study of
optimized turmeric extracts, demonstrating that key bioactives in the
botanical extracts inhibit aggregation and release of amyloid, a protein
fragment considered a prime causal suspect in Alzheimer's disease.

An article detailing the study, titled "Optimized Turmeric Extracts Have
Potent Anti-Amyloidogenic Effects," will be published in the December 2009
issue of Current Alzheimer's Research, a peer-reviewed scientific journal. The
authors are affiliated with several research organizations and medical
institutions, including HerbalScience Group LLC; the University of Miami
Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida; the University of South
Florida College of Medicine, Tampa, Florida; Veterans Administration Hospital,
Research Service, Tampa, Florida; and Natura Therapeutics, Tampa, Florida.

"The optimized extracts outperformed curcumin, the best studied anti-Alzheimer
extract from turmeric," said Randall S. Alberte, Ph.D., one of the authors of
the study and Chief Scientific Officer of HerbalScience Group LLC, a Naples,
Florida, and Singapore-based company dedicated to applying advanced science
and technology to the production of botanical drugs and nutraceuticals.

For the research, three standardized turmeric extracts were prepared that were
enriched in curcuminoids and turmerones, two major classes of compounds
present in turmeric. Each of the three proprietary extracts had a different
chemical profile and was standardized using advanced extraction technology
developed by HerbalScience to create herbal extracts that are dose-reliable
and efficacious. The activities of the extracts were compared to standard
curcuminoids.

Inhibition of amyloid aggregation and secretion was studied in vitro among the
different extracts and standards, and it was found that one of the extracts
had the greatest activity in inhibiting the aggregation and secretion of
amyloid. This extract, containing the highest levels of curcuminoids among all
of the extracts, demonstrated activity that was significantly greater than
curcumin alone, the most active of the four curcuminoid standards. This result
indicates that an enriched turmeric extract could be just as or more effective
than curcumin, the most commonly studied turmeric material for Alzheimer's
disease.

The HerbalScience study also used advanced DART (Direct Analysis in Real Time)
Time-of-Flight mass spectrometry technology to generate detailed chemical
profiles of each extract in order to determine the key bioactive compounds.
Only 5% of the compounds were known chemicals, with the remaining 95% being
identified for the first time. With further chemical analysis and
identification of key bioactives, highly standardized extracts such as these
could offer a rich new source for potential drug discovery for Alzheimer's and
other therapeutic targets.

The journal article detailing the study will appear in the December 2009 issue
of Current Alzheimer's Research (Vol. 6, No. 6). Authors are R. Douglas
Shytle, Paula C. Bickford, Kavon Rezai-zadeh, L Hou, Jin Zeng, Jun Tan, and
Paul Sanberg, with University of South Florida College of Medicine
affiliations including the Department of Neurosurgery Center for Excellence in
Aging and Brain Repair, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine
Silver Child Development Center, and Neuroscience Program; Cyndy D. Sanberg of
Natura Therapeutics, Inc., Tampa, Florida; Bill Roschek Jr. and Randall S.
Alberte, of HerbalScience Group LLC, Naples, Florida; and Ryan C. Fink,
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The University of Miami
Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida. Dr. Bickford is also
affiliated with the Veterans Administration Hospital, Research Service, Tampa,
Florida; and Drs. Shytle, Bickford, Tan, and Paul Sanberg are also affiliated
with Natura Therapeutics.

HerbalScience is a privately-held life sciences company headquartered in
Naples, Florida, with facilities in Singapore. HerbalScience is engaged in the
discovery, development, manufacture, and marketing of proprietary botanical
compounds for human health in the U.S. and international markets. The company
has prominent alliances with prestigious university laboratories and prominent
researchers in the U.S., as well as research institutions in China.