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Maybe better

jackD


1: Planta Med. 1998 May;64(4):353-6.

Influence of piperine on the pharmacokinetics of curcumin in animals and human volunteers.

Shoba G, Joy D, Joseph T, Majeed M, Rajendran R, Srinivas PS.
Department of Pharmacology, St. John's Medical College, Bangalore, India.

The medicinal properties of curcumin obtained from Curcuma longa L. cannot be utilised because of poor bioavailability due to its rapid metabolism in the liver and intestinal wall. In this study, the effect of combining piperine, a known inhibitor of hepatic and intestinal glucuronidation, was evaluated on the bioavailability of curcumin in rats and healthy human volunteers.

When curcumin was given alone, in the dose 2 g/kg to rats, moderate serum concentrations were achieved over a period of 4 h. Concomitant administration of piperine 20 mg/kg increased the serum concentration of curcumin for a short period of 1-2 h post drug. Time to maximum was significantly increased (P < 0.02) while elimination half life and clearance significantly decreased (P < 0.02), and the bioavailability was increased by 154%.

On the other hand in humans after a dose of 2 g curcumin alone, serum levels were either undetectable or very low.

Concomitant administration of piperine 20 mg produced much higher concentrations from 0.25 to 1 h post drug (P < 0.01 at 0.25 and 0.5 h; P < 0.001 at 1 h), the increase in bioavailability was 2000%.

The study shows that in the dosages used, piperine enhances the serum concentration, extent of absorption and bioavailability of curcumin in both rats and humans with no adverse effects.

Publication Types:
Clinical Trial
PMID: 9619120 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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jack,

Have you seen any article that indicates that using plain black pepper out of the pepper shaker is strong enough with piperine to positively affect the tumeric?

I have been putting as much tumeric as I can figure out how to use on my food and using the pepper shaker on it.

People in India and other Asian areas seem to get a beneficial effect from using these two ingredients and I am sure people are not rushing to the health food store to buy piperine capsules in New Delhi.

So far I have not been able to find any research which converts mg of piperline to plain old table pepper.

gwa

I have not seen anything that says regular black pepper works as well as the black pepper extract. Many folks just add pepper to their turmeric and hope for the best. It would seem that it would really help but how much I cannot say. The folks who make Bioperine seem to think that it does not work as well as their product. Not a real surprise.

http://www.bioperine.com/

You might want to check up on their comments and research posted at their site as a starting point.

I take one LEF Curcumin with bioperine cap along with a cap of Vitamin Shoppe Turmeric Extract (95% curcumin) 300 mg per day.

It has also cured my arthritis and my HDL is 74 LDL 72 so I think it all helps. My MS is stable with no active lesions or change in 6 years if the MRIs are correct. I also target MMP-9s as I recently posted here.

Good luck.

jackD

I know I read that too much cumin may be a bad thing due to excessive cell excitation and death somewhere too...

Anybody else read this?

Abe,

I haven't read about eating too much cucurmin, but I did just read a paper talking about the problems of too much piperine. The researches warned against using more than 5mg daily. Too much cucurmin might turn us into yellow fellows.

One of the problems of using supplements is that dosage is a guess many times because no one has done thorough research on their use.

Targeting the MMP's is one of the best ways to help our brains function better and I do use a number of the reducers. I think I am probably in pretty good shape for as bad as I was when this disease first started, but I am always looking for ways to keep healthier.

Thanks for the link, jack. I will check it out.


gwa

I agree. This is especially true if a dosage is even slightly too high and the product stays in the body for a longtime and is possibly taken for years.

What are MMP's?

MMP-9s cut a hole in your BBB Blood Brain Barrier enter your brain along with lots of hungry folks who wait for them to cut the myelin into the three components they like to dine on. Real NASTY stuff!!

Just before a MS ATTACK MMP-9 levels rise and during attack they stay high.

Normally MMP-9s are regulated by "things" called TIMP-1s but in MS folks these things are in short supply so these rogue MMP-s go on a killing spree in your brain. IFN-Betas will restore the ratio to 1:1 in about 6 months.

Sad to say IFN-Betas get destroyed/cleaved into bits when they encounter a MMP-9.

Check PubMed by doing a search on "MMP-9 multiple sclerosis".
http://www.pubmed.gov

THIS IS NOT, REPEAT NOT THE CAUSE OF MS!!!

Just a mechanism of destruction of BBB and myelin.

(Below is from my earlier post on this board)

http://home.ix.netcom.com/~jdalton/Yongrev.pdf Details HERE!!!
(see fig 2 and narrative on page 505)


MMP-9s KILL the activity of ALL IFN-Betas.

It is a VERY GOOD IDEA to lower MMP-9s if taking an Ifn-Beta drug.

If you want to maximize Avonex (or any beta interferon), lowering MMP-9s will prevent it from being degraded by being cleaved into parts thus killing its Activity/Effectiveness.

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Also getting the most activity from the least amount of near natural (human) interferon like Avonex will usually result in MUCH LESS neutralizing antibody formation (2-5% vrs 20-26%).

Things that reduce MMP-9s (AKA gelatinase B)

These "things" have been known for some time to help MS folks.
This is the WHY!

VIT D3 .................................REDUCES MMP-9s

RESVERATROL (Grape Skin Extract) ...REDUCES MMP-9s
(NOT Grape SEED Extract)

GREEN TEA EXTRACT(EGCGs)... REDUCES MMP-9s

ALPHA LIPOIC ACID (R-lipoic/ R-Dihdro-LipoicAcid) ... REDUCES MMP-9s

NAC N-Acetyl-L-Cysteine .......REDUCES MMP-9s

STATIN DRUGS (i.e Zocor) .....REDUCES MMP-9s

Omega-3s (ie Fish oil) ...........REDUCES MMP-9s

Minocycline/Doxycycline.........REDUCES MMP-9s

Curcumin.............................REDUCES MMP-9s

Pycnogenol (Pine bark extract)..REDUCES MMP-9s

Chondroitin sulfate (CS) and CS plus glucosamine sulfate (GS) ..REDUCES MMP-9s

Interferon Betas 1a/1b...........REDUCES MMP-9

(of course Steroids ....REDUCES MMP-9s)

***NOTE*** ( gelatinase B = MMP-9) ***NOTE***


I have lots more information on this MMP - MS - INTERFERON-beta connection and will elaborate it if there is some interest in this subject here. For the real techie stuff check the link shown below

http://home.ix.netcom.com/~jdalton/Yongrev.pdf
(see fig 2 and narrative on page 505)

jackD

Lancet Neurol. 2003 Dec;2(12):747-56.

Functional roles and therapeutic targeting of gelatinase B and chemokines in
multiple sclerosis.

Opdenakker G, Nelissen I, Van Damme J.
GO, IN, and JVD are at the Rega Institute for Medical Research, University
of
Leuven, Belgium

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a demyelinating disease of the CNS of unknown
cause. Pathogenetic mechanisms, such as chemotaxis, subsequent activation of
autoreactive lymphocytes, and skewing of the extracellular proteinase
balance, are targets for new therapies.

Matrix metalloproteinase gelatinase B (MMP-9) is upregulated in MS and was
recently shown to degrade interferon beta, one of the drugs used to treat
MS.

Consequently, the effect of endogenously produced interferon beta or
parenterally given interferon beta may be increased by gelatinase B
inhibitors. Blockage of chemotaxis or cell adhesion molecule engagement, and
inhibition of hydoxymethyl-glutaryl-coenzyme-A reductase to lower expression
of gelatinase B, may become effective treatments of MS, alone or in
combination with interferon beta. This may allow interferon beta to be used
at lower doses and prevent side-effects.

PMID: 14636780 [PubMed - in process]


1: Brain. 2003 Jun;126(Pt 6):1371-81.

Gelatinase B/matrix metalloproteinase-9 cleaves interferon-beta and is a
target for immunotherapy.

Nelissen I, Martens E, Van den Steen PE, Proost P, Ronsse I, Opdenakker G.
Rega Institute for Medical Research, Laboratory of Molecular Immunology,
University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.

Parenteral administration of interferon (IFN)-beta is one of the currently
approved therapies for multiple sclerosis. One characteristic of this
disease is the increased production of gelatinase B, also called matrix
metalloproteinase (MMP) 9. Gelatinase B is capable of destroying the
blood-brain barrier, and of cleaving myelin basic protein into
immunodominant and encephalitogenic fragments, thus playing a functional
role and being a therapeutic target in multiple sclerosis. Here we
demonstrate that gelatinase B proteolytically cleaves IFN-beta, kills its
activity, and hence counteracts this cytokine as an antiviral and
immunotherapeutic agent. This proteolysis is more pronounced with
IFN-beta-1b than with IFN-beta-1a. Furthermore, the tetracycline
minocycline, which has a known blocking effect in experimental autoimmune
encephalomyelitis, an in vivo model of acute inflammation in multiple
sclerosis, and other MMP inhibitors prevent the in vitro degradation of
IFN-beta by gelatinase B. These data provide a novel mechanism and rationale
for the inhibition of gelatinase B in diseases in which IFN-beta has a
beneficial effect. The combination of gelatinase B inhibitors with better
and lower pharmacological formulations of IFN-beta may reduce the
side-effects of treatment with IFN-beta, and is therefore proposed for
multiple sclerosis therapy and the immunotherapy of viral infections.

PMID: 12764058 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

1: Neuroscientist 2002 Dec;8(6):586-95

Matrix metalloproteinases and neuroinflammation in multiple sclerosis.

Rosenberg GA.
Department of Neurology, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center,
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131, USA.

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are extracellular matrix remodeling neutral proteases that are important in normal development, angiogenesis, wound repair, and a wide range of pathological processes. Growing evidence supports a key role of the MMPs in many neuroinflammatory conditions, including meningitis, encephalitis, brain tumors, cerebral ischemia, Guillain-Barre, and multiple sclerosis (MS).

The MMPs attack the basal lamina macromolecules that line the blood vessels, opening the blood-brain barrier (BBB). They contribute to the remodeling of the blood vessels that causes hyalinosis and gliosis, and they attack myelin. During the acute inflammatory phase of MS, they are involved in the injury to the blood vessels and may be important in the disruption of the myelin sheath and axons. Normally under tight regulation, excessive proteolytic activity is detected in the blood and cerebrospinal fluid in patients with acute MS. Because they are induced in immunologic and nonimmunologic forms of demyelination, they act as a final common pathway to exert a "bystander" effect.

AGENTS THAT BLOCK THE ACTION OF THE MMPS HAVE BEEN SHOWN TO REDUCE THE DAMAGE TO THE BBB AND LEAD TO SYMPTOMATIC IMPROVEMENT IN SEVERAL ANIMAL MODELS OF NEUROINFLAMMATORY DISEASES, INCLUDING EXPERIMENTAL ALLERGIC ENCEPHALOMYELITIS. SUCH AGENTS MAY EVENTUALLY BE USEFUL IN THE CONTROL OF EXCESSIVE PROTEOLYSIS THAT CONTRIBUTES TO THE PATHOLOGY OF MS AND OTHER NEUROINFLAMMATORY CONDITIONS.

Thanks Jack,

That was a very informative post.

We still seem to be crossing paths in this thread, or assuming we are talking about the same thing. The original post was about CUMIN. I asked if you meant CURCUMIN (an extract from Turmeric, which is a totally different spice to CUMIN).

Did you mean CUMIN or CURCUMIN?

Now, from what I have read, standard turmeric as you get in your spice rack is about 3% curcumin, while the supplements you can buy are normally stated as being 95% curcumin.

As for CUMIN and MS, that's a new one to me.

Don't know if these have already been posted, but here are links to a couple of articles with a lot of info about curcumin:

http://ecam.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/4/2/181

http://www.springerlink.com/content/e37 ... lltext.pdf

dignan, i digress here but i saw this show on tv the other night that takes place in smithers. tell me, how realistic is this media representation ;)

jimmy, it's all true...ok, ok, I haven't actually seen the show...but it's on TV, so it must be true.

YOU POOR THING! ;)

Some added Curcumin thoughts:

Curcumin is a COX-2 inhibitor
Plummer et al. 1999 Inhibition of cyclo-oxygenase 2 expression in colon cells by the chemopreventive agent curcumin involves inhibition of NF-B activation via the NIK/IKK signalling complex

Curcumin induces apoptosis
Cipriani et al. 2001 Curcumin Inhibits Activation of V{gamma}9V{delta}2 T Cells by Phosphoantigens and Induces Apoptosis Involving Apoptosis-Inducing Factor and Large Scale DNA Fragmentation

Curcumin is anti-inflammatory
Lim et al. 2001 The Curry Spice Curcumin Reduces Oxidative Damage and Amyloid Pathology in an Alzheimer Transgenic Mouse