Treatment for canine ocular condition using turmeric

Date:
September 3, 2020
Source:
Texas A&M University
Summary:
Researchers have produced a therapeutic derived from turmeric, a
spice long-praised for its natural anti-inflammatory properties,
that shows promise in decreasing ocular inflammation in dogs
suffering from uveitis, an inflammation of the eye that leads to
pain and reduced vision.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Researchers at Texas A&M University have produced a therapeutic derived
from turmeric, a spice long-praised for its natural anti-inflammatory properties, that shows promise in decreasing ocular inflammation in dogs suffering from uveitis, an inflammation of the eye that leads to pain
and reduced vision.


========================================================================== Uveitis -- a common condition in dogs, humans, and other species -- can
have many causes, often occurring secondary to infectious diseases cancer,
and autoimmune diseases; it also is found in patients with longstanding cataracts and after operations correcting cataracts.

"Uncontrolled inflammation inside the eye, also known as uveitis, is
a leading cause of complications after cataract surgery in dogs. The
management of postoperative ocular inflammation is a major challenge
observed in both human and veterinary ophthalmology," said Dr. Erin Scott,
an assistant professor at the Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences.

In a recent paper published in Science Advances, Scott and her
colleagues at the Texas A&M University College of Pharmacy tested the anti-inflammatory properties of curcumin, a compound found in turmeric,
and discovered that when processed to a special nanoparticle formulation
to boost absorption, the natural compound is safe and effective at
managing uveitis without any known side effects.

Oral medications currently used to treat uveitis must be adequately
absorbed into the blood stream for their medicinal effects to be
effective. This requires the medication to successfully pass through the intestinal barrier - - the physical barrier between the gut and the rest
of the body via the circulatory system -- which limits the absorption
of many drugs.

Drug delivery to the eye presents additional challenges because of the
blood- ocular barrier -- the physical barrier between blood vessels and
tissues of the eye -- which tightly controls what substances can pass
into the eye.

Therefore, researchers must find ways to bypass such barriers to improve
drug availability within the body.

Scott and her colleagues' research implemented a novel formulation of
curcumin that improved transport of the substance across both intestinal
and ocular barriers. By adding nanoparticle molecules that interact
with receptors on a ubiquitous transmembrane carrier protein, known
as the transferrin receptor, curcumin is able to hitch a ride across
crucial barriers, improving absorption of the substance and reducing
ocular inflammation.

Curcumin is especially attractive as a candidate for management of
uveitis because it has no known side effects.

"Current treatments include a combination of systemic and topical anti- inflammatory medications, either in the form of steroids or non-steroidal
anti- inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)," Scott said. "While both these
medications are effective in the treatment of uveitis, they can cause
unwanted side effects, such as vomiting, diarrhea, stomach ulcers,
negatively impact kidney and liver function, and increase glucose levels
in diabetic patients." Scott and her colleagues hope to start a clinical
trial in the Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital using this
new medication in the near future and are optimistic that the utility
of their findings may benefit populations beyond dogs.

"This medication may translate to the treatment of cataracts and uveitis
in humans," she said. "By studying animal patients with naturally
occurring eye diseases, our findings may accelerate the development of medications to benefit both animals and humans."

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Texas_A&M_University. Original written
by Margaret Preigh. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. R. Ganugula, M. Arora, M. A. Lepiz, Y. Niu, B. K. Mallick, S. C.

Pflugfelder, E. M. Scott, M. N. V. Ravi Kumar. Systemic
anti-inflammatory therapy aided by double-headed nanoparticles in
a canine model of acute intraocular inflammation. Science Advances,
2020; 6 (35): eabb7878 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abb7878 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200903171443.htm

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