Curcumin protects against intracellular amyloid toxicity in rat primary neurons.

To investigate whether curcumin is protective against intracellular amyloid β (Aβ) toxicity, different concentrations of curcumin were applied to with intracellular Aβ in rat primary hippocampal neurons in culture. We find that at low dosages, curcumin effectively inhibits intracellular Aβ toxicity. Reactive oxidative species (ROS) is involved in mediating intracellular Aβ toxicity and possibly curcumin protection. Our results indicate that oxidative stress may mediate cell death induced by intracellular Aβ in neurons.