Volume 29, Issue 163, September 2025

Curcumin as a neuroprotective agent: mechanisms and therapeutic potential in neurodegenerative diseases, acute brain injuries, and neuroinflammation. A review of the literature

Żanna Gawrysz^1♦, Zofia Cholewa², Stanisław Derewjanko², Joanna Gaik², Julia Woźniak², Karolina Capar²

¹Department of Plastic and Burns Surgery, Multispecialty Hospital in Nowa Sól, ul. Chałubińskiego 7, 67-000 Nowa Sól, Poland
²Collegium Medicum of the University of Zielona Gora, ul. Zyty 28, 65-046 Zielona Góra, Poland

^♦Corresponding author
Żanna Gawrysz, Department of Plastic and Burns Surgery, Multispecialty Hospital in Nowa Sól, ul. Chałubińskiego 7, 67-000 Nowa Sól, Poland

ABSTRACT

Curcumin is a bioactive compound that comes from the underground stem of the plant called turmeric or Curcuma longa. Researchers have studied curcumin due to its anti-inflammatory and oxidative properties. In this article, we have attempted to summarize the latest information on the medicinal value and specific characteristics of curcumin. Some of them are preventing and treating neurodegenerative diseases, inflammatory disorders, and acute brain injury. As a natural polyphenol, curcumin can go through the blood-brain barrier, which makes it a potential neuroprotective agent. It prevents the accumulation of pathogenetic polypeptides, promotes neuronal plasticity, and ameliorates the effects of secondary inflammatory and oxidative responses in the brain after injury. All these properties of curcumin make it desirable in the treatment of diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and multiple sclerosis. There are also many prospects for use in the treatment or prevention of brain injury and ischemic stroke.

Keywords: curcumin, neuroprotection, neurodegenerative diseases, antiinflammatory

Medical Science, 2025, 29, e174ms3680

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.54905/disssi.v29i163.e174ms3680

Published: 21 September 2025