Theracurmin shows positive impact on human diastolic functions

The research group led by Dr. Koji Hasegawa, Director of the Translational Research Division at the National Hospital Organization Kyoto Medical Center and Dr. Tatsuya Morimoto, Professor at the Molecular Medicine School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Shizuoka, announced today based on the recent human clinical trials, that Theracurmin™ has continuously shown positive impact on human diastolic functions. Theracurmin™ is a patented absorption-enhanced form of curcumin, developed by Theravalues Corporation, a Japanese bio-venture.

“After demonstrating the positive impact of Theracurmin™ at AHA 2011, we have completed clinical trials administering Theracurmin™ for 24 weeks to another 8 participants”

At the American Heart Association (AHA) Scientific Session held in November 2011, the research group unveiled the results of a 24-week long human clinical trial, which affirmed Theracurmin™'s efficacy in improving the symptoms of the left ventricular diastolic failure.

"After demonstrating the positive impact of Theracurmin™ at AHA 2011, we have completed clinical trials administering Theracurmin™ for 24 weeks to another 8 participants," said Dr. Morimoto. The analysis on the clinical trials for 38 participants conducted by the end of 2011 has been presented at the American College of Cardiology 2012. "We are very excited to discover that the result of the clinical trials underscores the effectiveness of Theracurmin™ in the improvement of the diastolic function in hypertensive patients."

Curcumin, a polyphenol derived from turmeric (Curcuma Longa L), has anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant therapeutic properties, which effectively treat chronic inflammatory diseases. However, its poor bioavailability due to low oral absorption has been an ongoing challenge. Theravalues' innovative technology, which has been applied to Theracurmin™, addresses this issue by creating surface controlled colloidal dispersion, which enhances body absorption by 27 times compared to that of conventional curcumin powder.

"We are pleased to affirm that Theracurmin™ has positive effects in curbing left ventricular diastolic failure at a statistically significant level," said Dr. Hasegawa, the leader of the research group. "We plan on starting a new clinical trial, increasing the dosage up to 180 mg of Theracurmin™ from 60 mg for patients with hypertensive cardiac hypertrophy patients."

The research group has been investigating curcumin's exceptional properties to curb excessive activation of NF-kappaB, a widely-known agent that controls many genes that cause inflammation.

Tadashi Hashimoto, President of Theravalues, said, "Chronic inflammation often leads to several forms of illness such as cancer, metabolic disease, neuro-cognitive diseases, and arthritis. We anticipate that Theracurmin™ will potentially alleviate these conditions."

Theracurmin™ is currently used for a broad spectrum of clinical trials both in Japan and the U.S., including impaired glucose tolerance at National Hospital Organization Kyoto Medical Center, advanced cancer at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and Alzheimer's prevention at the UCLA Longevity Center.