Turmeric and Neurotransmitters

    The MAOA, MAOB, and COMT genes affect the rate at which neurotransmitters are broken down, metabolized, and released from the postsynaptic receptor. Polymorphisms in either MAOA (rs6323), MAOB (rs1799836), or COMT (rs4633/rs4680) cause monoamines at the receptor site to act more slowly. This makes the postsynaptic neuron less adaptable to changes in neurotransmitter status and leads to a greater likelihood of persistent sadness, loss of interest, and/or anxiety.

 

    Curcumin is a widely used supplement that has several functions, including anti-inflammatory action. However, curcumin can inhibit the activity of the MAOA and MAOB enzymes. Turmeric is a perennial, rhizomatic herbaceous plant in the Zingiberaceae family, native to South Asia. Turmeric has high levels of curcumin in its composition.

 

    The monoamine oxidase (MAOA) enzyme is involved in the degradation of norepinephrine, serotonin, dopamine and tyramine. If the genotype of the MAOA gene leads to excessive activity in the degradation of neurotransmitters, it is interesting to consider the use of curcumin to decrease the activity of MAOA, degrade less and thus balance the levels of norepinephrine, serotonin, dopamine and tyramine.

 

    The MAOB enzyme mainly inactivates dopamine. In this case, curcumin will also decrease the function of the MAOB enzyme, which may lead to the consequent accumulation of dopamine, which may increase the risk of impulsivity and moodiness, among others. Thus, the use of curcumin will allow more dopamine to be produced. Some people need more dopamine, so supplementation with curcumin may be useful. If you need to lower your dopamine levels because your MAOB and/or MAOA enzymes are too slow or because your COMT enzyme is too slow, then taking curcumin can actually make things worse by decreasing the function of both the MAO and COMT enzymes.

 

Curcumin is beneficial for fast COMT, MAOA, MAOB and may be detrimental for slow COMT, MAOA, and MAOB.

 

COMT V158M

 

Met/Met=AA: Slow COMT, high dopamine in the prefrontal cortex, means being considered a worrier.

Val/Met=AG: Moderate dopamine in the prefrontal cortex, intermediate.

Val/Val=GG: Fast COMT, low dopamine in the prefrontal cortex, means being considered a warrior.

 

    Both MAOA and MAOB are located on the X chromosome, so males carry only one allele, inherited from their mother. The results for males will be homozygous, as they will not inherit a ‘balance’ allele.

 

 -A slow MAOA clears dopamine, norepinephrine, adrenaline, and serotonin more slowly than normal, which can set you up for an excess of these neurotransmitters.

 -A fast MAOA clears dopamine, norepinephrine, adrenaline, and serotonin too quickly, which can set you up for a shortage of these vital neurotransmitters.

 

 -A slow MAOB also clears dopamine more slowly than normal.

 -A fast MAOB also clears dopamine more quickly.