Figure 4
Curcumin reduces aggregates in KI mice. Mice were fed curcumin from conception and were analyzed for huntingtin aggregates, at 4.5 m of age. The mean number of stained nuclei (data not shown), stained nuclei containing microaggregates or inclusions, and neuropil aggregates per 20 μm2 were counted over the entire striatum of each of two sections per mouse (1.32 mm and 2.28 mm lateral of the midline [47], data from medial section shown). A) control-treated KI mouse, B) curcumin-treated KI mouse. Arrowheads indicate stained nuclei containing inclusions. Small line arrows indicate neuropil aggregates and arrows indicate stained nuclei with microaggregates. C) Quantification of neuropathological analysis. Curcumin reduces several forms of aggregated huntingtin in 4.5 m old KI mice, data from medial section shown. Although the reduction in number of inclusions is not significant, a strong trend towards reduction was observed (effect of treatment F(1,20) = 4.3, p = 0.052). Data are shown as mean ± sem and were analyzed using ANOVA followed by Fishers LSD post hoc tests. N = 6 per group. * p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, compared to control-treated KI. Arrows are as for A) and B). Scale bar = 20 μm for A) and B).