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Curcumin for attention-deficit–hyperactivity disorder: a systematic review and preliminary behavioral investigation

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Abstract

Curcumin has protective actions in neuropsychiatric disorders, acting as a neuroprotective agent. As a first approach, the study aimed at a systematic review of the potential effects of curcumin on cognitive performance for attention-deficit–hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This research was carried out in the databases of PubMed, Embase, SciELO, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), the Web of Science, and the Grey literature. Upon discovering the scarcity of relevant studies, and knowing that curcumin might have an ADHD hyperactive and anxious behavior, the study proposed to evaluate the effects of curcumin in an ADHD phenotype of spontaneously hypertensive Wistar rats (SHR). No studies were found that related to curcumin and ADHD. Fifteen SHRs were then divided into separate groups that received water (1 mg/kg/day), curcumin (50 mg/kg/day), or methylphenidate (1 mg/kg/day) for 42 days. Behavioral tests to assess activity (Open Field Test), anxiety and impulsivity (Elevated Plus-Maze, and Social Interaction), and memory (Y-Maze, and the Object Recognition Test) were all performed. The animals that were treated with curcumin showed less anxious and hyperactive behavior, as seen in the Open Field Test and the Social Interaction Test. Anxious behavior was measured by the EPM and was not modulated by any treatment. The results of the Y-Maze Test demonstrated that curcumin improved spatial memory. In the Object Recognition Test, neither the short nor the long-term memory was improved. The treatments that were used in this study beneficially modulated the anxious and hyperactive behavior of the SHR.

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Data availability

All of the data that were generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article [and in the Supplementary Material].

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This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Programa de Pós-Graduação Em Biologia Celular E Molecular Aplicada À Saúde, Universidade Luterana Do Brasil (ULBRA), Avenida Farroupilha, 8001, São José, Canoas, Rio Grande Do Sul, CEP 92425-020, Brasil

    Lélia Lilianna Borges de Sousa Macedo, Flavia Tasmin Techera Antunes, Ivana Grivicich & Alessandra Hübner de Souza

  2. Programa de Pós-Graduação Em Alimentos E Nutrição, Universidade Federal Do Piauí, Teresina, PI, Brasil

    Willyane de Andrade Alvarenga, Mara Cristina Carvalho Batista & Mayara Storel Beserra de Moura

  3. Laboratório de Farmacologia, Universidade Luterana Do Brasil, Canoas, Brasil

    Mariane Nunes Lima Farias

  4. Laboratório de Pesquisa Em Toxicologia, Universidade Federal de Ciências da Saúde de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, Brazil

    Emanuelle Sistherenn Caminski & Eliane Dallegrave

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  1. Lélia Lilianna Borges de Sousa Macedo
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Contributions

LLBSM, FTTA, WAA, and AHS conceived and designed research. LLBSM, FTTA, ESC, MNLF, ED, and AHS conducted experiments. LLSBM, FTTA, MCCB, MSBM, IG, and AHS analyzed data. LLBSM, FTTA, ESC, IG, and AHS wrote original draft and review. All authors read and approve the manuscript and all data were generated in-house and that no paper mill was used.

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Correspondence to Flavia Tasmin Techera Antunes.

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The animal care and experimental procedures were strictly conducted in accordance with the Guide for Laboratory Animal Care in Research Experiments of the National Council for Animal Experimentation Control (CONCEA) and in accordance with the ARRIVE Guidelines. They were also approved by the Institutional Committee for Animal Care and Use from ULBRA, under Protocol nº 2019.567.

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Highlights

• There are no literature reviews relating to curcumin and ADHD

• The SHR treated with curcumin showed less anxiety

• Curcumin decreased the hyperactive behavior in the SHR 

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de Sousa Macedo, L.L.B., Antunes, F.T.T., de Andrade Alvarenga, W. et al. Curcumin for attention-deficit–hyperactivity disorder: a systematic review and preliminary behavioral investigation. Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's Arch Pharmacol 395, 803–813 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00210-022-02236-0

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