Combination of Iron and a Bioavailable Curcumin Supplement Increases Serum BDNF Levels

by | Sep 1, 2020 | 2020, Curcumin, Iron, Minerals

Written by Joyce Smith, BS. Six-week supplementation of a bioavailable formulated curcumin and ferrous sulfate containing 18 mg of elemental iron significantly increased serum BDNF levels in participating subjects.

mineralsThe worldwide prevalence of iron deficiency contributes to over 60% of all anemias, a condition affecting around 2 million people globally 1.  The fatigue 2, quality of life 3 and depression that accompanies anemia, can impact physical and cognitive performance 4 in children and adults alike. Substantial evidence supports the importance of human BDNF, a neurotrophic growth factor vital for normal neuronal development and cognitive function 5.  Studies have evaluated its ability to cross the blood brain barrier to support energy levels and enhance cognitive capabilities. 6 Healthy BDNF requires adequate iron levels 7, yet both high and low brain levels of iron can reduce BDNF expression and impact cognitive and mental impairment 7, creating reactive oxygen species  (ROS)  ROS  production 7 which eventually damages DNA and leads to cell death 8. Antioxidants can mitigate the effects of ROS and have become potential candidate for enhancing BDNF levels 9.  Both iron and curcumin have been independently associated with BDNF homeostasis in animal and cellular studies 7, thus a study investigating the potential synergy of their co-administration is warranted.

This 6-week double blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study 10 was designed to examine the effects of 6 weeks of oral iron supplementation at low (18 mg) and high (65 mg) ferrous iron dosages, either alone or co-administered with curcumin (500 mg) supplementation on serum BDNF levels in healthy adults. Researchers randomized 155 adults into 5 groups of 31 per group as follows:

  • FS18 +Curc (18mg low dose ferrous sulfate (FS), 500 mg curcumin
  • FS18 + Placebo (18mg ferrous sulfate, no curcumin)
  • FS0 + Placebo (no ferrous sulfate, no curcumin)
  • FS65 + curc (high dose ferrous sulfate (65mg), 500mg curcumin
  •  FS65 +placebo (high dose ferrous sulfate, no curcumin)

After 6 weeks of intervention, participants who supplemented with various levels of iron and curcumin experienced statistically significant increases in BDNF levels compared to baseline.  The low dose iron and curcumin recipients (FS18 + Curc) had an increased mean BDNF from 30.28 ± 1.54ng/mL to 39.2mg/m ng/mL (35.17%, p = 0.0013); high dose recipients (FS65) saw increases in BDNF from 30.85 ±1.99ng/mL to 39.16 ± 4.96ng/mL (results were not significant). Further participant subgrouping into low (> 50ug/L) and normal (< 50ug/L) ferritin levels validated the greater increase in BDNF for participants with lower ferritin values at baseline. The low ferritin group (FS18 + Curc) had a significant increase in BDNF from midpoint (3 weeks) to endpoint (six weeks) (p=0.019). While no significant differences in BDNF levels were observed between FS18+Curc and FS18 + placebo at midpoint; BDNF levels in the FS18 + curc were significantly higher at endpoint (53.78%, P=0.028).There were no significant differences between the treatment groups with normal iron levels. This study demonstrated that the combination of iron with curcumin, rather than iron supplementation alone, can increase serum BDNF, thus co-supplementation with curcumin may be a potential intervention for increasing BNDF levels.

Study limitations include the absence of a curcumin only group, which limited the ability to elucidate whether the observed BDNF increases were due to the curcumin or to the synergistic effect of the curcumin-iron combination.

Source: Tiekou Lorinczova, Helena, Owen Fitzsimons, Leah Mursaleen, Derek Renshaw, Gulshanara Begum, and Mohammed Gulrez Zariwala. “Co-Administration of Iron and a Bioavailable Curcumin Supplement Increases Serum BDNF Levels in Healthy Adults.” Antioxidants 9, no. 8 (2020): 645.

© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open accessarticle distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution(CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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Posted September 1, 2020.

Joyce Smith, BS, is a degreed laboratory technologist. She received her bachelor of arts with a major in Chemistry and a minor in Biology from  the University of Saskatchewan and her internship through the University of Saskatchewan College of Medicine and the Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. She currently resides in Bloomingdale, IL.

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