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Lipopolysaccharides (LPS) are bacterial mediators of neuroinflammation that have been detected in close association with pathological protein aggregations of Alzheimer’s disease. LPS induce the release of cytokines by microglia and mediate the upregulation of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS)—a mechanism also associated with amyloidosis. Curcumin is a recognized natural medicine but has extremely low bioavailability. V-Cur, a novel hemocompatible Vanadium(IV)-curcumin complex with higher solubility and bioactivity than curcumin, is studied here. Co-cultures consisting of rat primary neurons and microglia were treated with LPS and/or curcumin or V-Cur. V-Cur disrupted LPS-induced overexpression of amyloid precursor protein (APP) and the in vitro aggregation of human insulin (HI), more effectively than curcumin. Cell stimulation with LPS also increased full-length, inactive, and total iNOS levels, and the inflammation markers IL-1β and TNF-α. Both curcumin and V-Cur alleviated these effects, with V-Cur reducing iNOS levels more than curcumin. Complementary insights into possible bioactivity mechanisms of both curcumin and V-Cur were provided by In silico molecular docking calculations on Aβ_1-42, APP, Aβ fibrils, HI, and iNOS. This study renders curcumin-based compounds a promising anti-inflammatory intervention that may be proven a strong tool in the effort to mitigate neurodegenerative disease pathology and neuroinflammatory conditions. Full article

Curcumin, an active component of the rhizome turmeric, has gained much attention as a plant-based compound with pleiotropic pharmacological properties. It possesses anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, hypoglycemic, antimicrobial, neuroprotective, and immunomodulatory activities. However, the health-promoting utility of curcumin is constrained due to its hydrophobic nature, water insolubility, poor bioavailability, rapid metabolism, and systemic elimination. Therefore, an innovative stride was taken, and complexes of metals with curcumin have been synthesized. Curcumin usually reacts with metals through the β-diketone moiety to generate metal–curcumin complexes. It is well established that curcumin strongly chelates several metal ions, including boron, cobalt, copper, gallium, gadolinium, gold, lanthanum, manganese, nickel, iron, palladium, platinum, ruthenium, silver, vanadium, and zinc. In this review, the pharmacological, chemopreventive, and therapeutic activities of metal–curcumin complexes are discussed. Metal–curcumin complexes increase the solubility, cellular uptake, and bioavailability and improve the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and antiviral effects of curcumin. Metal–curcumin complexes have also demonstrated efficacy against various chronic diseases, including cancer, arthritis, osteoporosis, and neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease. These biological activities of metal–curcumin complexes were associated with the modulation of inflammatory mediators, transcription factors, protein kinases, antiapoptotic proteins, lipid peroxidation, and antioxidant enzymes. In addition, metal–curcumin complexes have shown usefulness in biological imaging and radioimaging. The future use of metal–curcumin complexes may represent a new approach in the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases. Full article