Anti-inflammatory effect of different curcumin preparations on adjuvant-induced arthritis in rats

Abstract

Background Curcumin, a natural polyphenolic substance, has been known for more than two millennia as having strong anti-inflammatory activity towards multiple ailments, including arthritis. The main drawback of curcumin is its poor solubility in water, which leads to low intestinal absorption and minimal bioavailability. In this study, we aimed to compare the anti-arthritic in vivo effect of different curcumin preparations – basic curcumin extract, micellar curcumin, curcumin mixture with piperine, and microencapsulated curcumin. Methods Arthritis was induced in Wistar rats by complete Freund’s adjuvant, and the severity of arthritis was evaluated daily using the arthritis score system. Curcumin preparations were given to animals per os daily for 20 consecutive days, starting at 6th day after arthritis induction. To determine the inflammatory background, pro-inflammatory cytokines were determined using the ELISA test. In addition, hematologic test, weight change, and limb swelling were tracked. Results Our results indicate that curcumin had a rather weak effect on arthritis progression in the Wistar rat model, microencapsulated curcumin effectively prevented the progression of arthritis – the disease stabilized after 10 days of supplementation. It also reduced the levels of immune cells (neutrophils and leukocytes), as well as pro-inflammatory cytokines – TNFα, IL-1, and IL-6, which levels were close to arthritis-free control. Other formulations of curcumin had lower or no effect on arthritis progression. Conclusion Our study shows that the same concentrations of curcumin had a distinctly expressed positive anti-inflammatory effect depending on the form of its delivery. Specifically, we found that microencapsulated curcumin had the most promising effect for treatment. Graphical abstract

Solitary and Synergistic Influences of Eugenol and Curcumin against Induced Bronchial Asthma in Male Rats

“…This might be attributed to the anti-oxidative and neutrophil inhibitory activity of curcumin. [55] Curcumin anti-oxidative influence and reduction in cytokine level were also revealed by, [56] who assessed the effectiveness of curcumin-loaded solid lipid nanoparticles for treatment of rheumatoid arthritis in rats.…”

“…Curcumin also reduced the levels of immune cells (neutrophils and WBC) and proinflammatory cytokines-TNF-α, IL-1, and IL-6, which were close to that in healthy controls. [55] Moreover, [57] explained that curcumin also inhibited COX-2 expression in mouse macrophage cell line exposed to LPS, [58] inhibiting the production of TNF-α. Inactivation of two transcription factor genes, activator protein-1 (mediating cell proliferation) and nuclear factor-κB (mediating immune activity, inflammation, collagenase, and cell proliferation) may explain the inhibitory effects of curcumin on proinflammatory gene expression and suppression of inflammation.…”

Enhanced Antioxidant and Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Self-Nano and Microemulsifying Drug Delivery Systems Containing Curcumin

“…Another study described that microencapsulated curcumin had a more promising effect in the treatment of arthritis in rats compared with the basic curcumin extract or micellar curcumin. Microencapsulated curcumin reduced the levels of immune cells (neutrophils and leukocytes), as well as pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-1, and IL-6), while other formulations of curcumin had lower or no effect on arthritis progression [ 44 ]. In our study the formulated SMEDDSs and SNEDDSs were tested on previously inflamed HaCaT and Caco-2 cells.…”

Curcuminoids: Composition, extraction, health benefits, delivery systems, and relation to COVID‐19 treatment

“…and TNF-α (Rinkunaite et al, 2021;Zhang et al, 2016 studied the anti-inflammatory effect of curcumin in adjuvant-induced arthritis in rats. The results showed that microencapsulated curcumin successfully prevented arthritis from progressing.…”