Curry compound shows promise in mice with Kennedy disease

Researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center have been investigating a synthetic chemical compound called ASC-J9 that is loosely based on a compound found in curcumin (the bright yellow spice found in curry powder). When mice with Kennedy disease, an inherited neurological disorder, were treated with ASC-J9, the disease process was dramatically slowed down. The mice were able to walk much more normally and their muscles were stronger. The researchers note, however, that it is a long way from testing this compound in mice to any possible human treatment for Kennedy disease. The research was published in the March 6, 2007, issue of Nature Medicine.