Human Metabolomics

The Northern German television station NDR aired a segment on the health-beneficial properties of curcuma and its constitutent curcumin on January 15, 2013 as part of their programme Visite. 

The journalist Judith König and her camera team visited our laboratory in Hohenheim and interviewed professor Frank, among other things, about recent human studies with curcumin, the poor bioavailability of the phytochemical, our BMBF-sponsored research project, and the micellar curcumin formulations developed by AQUANOVA. 

The video of the segment can be viewed here.

The radio channel NDR Info aired a segment on the health beneficial properties of curcumin and the BMBF-funded research network coordinated by Dr. Frank in their show Logo - Das Wissenschaftsmagazin on January 7, 2011. For this program, Dr. Frank was interviewed by the science journalist Annette Eversberg. A podcast of the program is available here; the feature on curcumin runs from 37:50-43:55 minutes.

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Dr. Frank was interviewed by Madeleine Amberger for a radio segment on Human Rights and Science which aired on the German radio station Bayerischer Rundfunk. A short statement from the interview was used at the end of this Podcast.

Nutrition: More than the sum of its parts
The modern craze for dietary supplements is under increasing scrutiny, while biofortified crops look promising in the quest to deliver nutrition in developing countries (by Philip Hunter).

Dr. Frank was interviewed by Philip Hunter for a Science & Society feature entitled Nutrition: More than the sum of its parts which was published in the April 2011 issue of EMBO Reports.

Click here to read the Science & Society feature.

Photo: EMBO Reports

In its October 2012 issue, Apotheken-Umschau published an article (in German) about the health-beneifical effects of Curcuma longa. [09/10/2012]

The newspaper Stuttgarter Zeitung published an article (in German) about the research network coordinated by Dr. Frank, which investigates novel strategies to improve the bioavailability of curcumin and their impact on the health beneficial properties of the nutraceutical. 

The Frankfurter Rundschau published an article about the joint-research project on curcumin and, in particular, the work packages of Drs Eckert and Weissenberger at the University of Frankfurt [27/12/2010].

The internet portal biotechnologie.de published a report about the BMBF-funded project on their website [21/12/2010].

The Frankfurter Neue Presse published an article about the work packages that are performed at the University of Frankfurt and investigate the effects of curcumin on mitochondrial function and tumor-suppression within the BMBF-funded research network [20/12/2010].

An article about Dr. Frank's current research on vitamin E was published in the Stuttgarter Zeitung (in German only). 

The Press Centre of the University of Hohenheim released information (in German only) on a research network coordinated by Dr. Frank, which investigates novel strategies to improve the bioavailability and health beneficial effects of nutraceuticals. The press release can be read here.

Novel strategies for the enhancement of the potency of nutraceuticals with low oral bioavailability and their application in novel functional foods for optimum protection of the aging brain

Curcumin is a nutraceutical currently intensively investigated for its potential use as a therapeutic or preventive agent against a number of degenerative diseases, including cancer and Alzheimer's disease. Curcumin is the coloring agent derived from the root of the plant Curcuma longa and gives the yellow color to the spice curry, in which it is found in significant amounts. It is also commonly used, under the designation "E 100", as a coloring agent by the food industry. 

Because of its potent health beneficial activities, such as antiinflammatory, antioxidant, and anticancer effects, to name only a few, researchers have attempted to enhance the uptake and retention of the phytochemical in the body. Curcumin, however, remains a very difficult compound to detect in the body (see our recent publication in Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry as an example), because it is taken up into the body to a limited extent and subsequently rapidly metabolised and excreted from the organism. Hence, an important question in this context remains largely unanswered: Could the health beneficial activities of curcumin be enhanced if more of the active compound would reach the site of action, e.g. the brain.

To answer this and a number of related questions, Dr. Frank (University of Hohenheim) coordinates a research network consisting of five academic and five industry partners, which is financially supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research with ca. € 1.5 M. The project started August 1, 2010 and will go on for three years.

The work packages of this research network are lead by Dr. Frank from the Institute of Biological Chemistry and Nutrition at Hohenheim University, PD Dr. Gunter Eckert from the Department of Pharmacology at the Johann-Wolfgang-Goethe Universityand Dr. Jakob Weissenberger from the Department of Neurosurgery at the University Hospital of the  Johann-Wolfgang-Goethe University (Frankfurt/Main), Prof. Dr. Gerald Rimbach from the Institute of Human Nutrition and Food Science at Christian-Albrechts-University in Kiel, Prof. Dr. Tilman Grune from the Institute of Human Nutrition at the Friedrich-Schiller-University in Jena, Dariush Behnam, CEO of Aquanova AG, Dr. Simone Toelstede, Head of Research Department at Raps GmbH & Co KG, Kalle Debus, Product Manager at Hassia Mineralquellen, Dr. Carola Funk, General Manager R&D at Kampffmeyer Food Innovation, and Manuela Neske of Schwartauer Werke.

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The press office of the University of Hohenheim issued a press release on the current vitamin E project of the group (in German only).