Anti-ischemic Effect of Curcumin in Rat Brain

Abstract

Turmeric has been in use since ancient times as a condiment and due to its medicinal properties. Curcumin, the yellow colouring principle in turmeric, is polyphenolic and major active constituent. Besides anti-inflammatory, thrombolytic and anticarcinogenic activities, curcumin also possesses strong antioxidant property. In view of the novel combination of properties, neuroprotective efficacy of curcumin was studied in rat middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) model. Rats were subjected to 2 h of focal ischemia followed by 72 h of reperfusion. They were pre-treated with curcumin (100 mg/kg, po) for 5 days prior to MCAO and for another 3 days after MCAO. The parameters studied were behavioural, biochemical and histological. Treatment with curcumin could significantly improve neurobehavioral performance compared to untreated ischemic rats as judged by its effect on rota-rod performance and grid walking. A significant inhibition in lipid peroxidation and an increase in superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity in corpus striatum and cerebral cortex was observed following treatment with curcumin in MCAO rats as compared to MCAO group. Intracellular calcium levels were decreased following treatment with curcumin in MCAO rats. Histologically, a reduction in the infarct area from 33% to 24% was observed in MCAO rats treated with curcumin. The study demonstrates the protective efficacy of curcumin in rat MCAO model.

Protective effect of curcumin against arsenic-induced apoptosis in murine splenocytesin vitro

“…Curcumin (Cur) is a phenolic compound that possesses multiple pharmacological properties including anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-carcinogenic, antiischemic, hypotensive, and hepato-protective activities (Ammon and Wahl, 1991;Maheshwari et al, 2006;Shukla et al, 2008;Strimpakos and Sharma, 2008;Aggarwal and Sung, 2009). In the present study, co-exposure of Cur with NaAsO 2 mitigated the effects of the metal agent on cell viability, ROS generation, loss of MTP, and hypodiploid DNA content in murine splenocytes.…”

Curcumin modulates TLR4/NF-κB inflammatory signaling pathway following traumatic spinal cord injury in rats

“…Curcumin exerts neuroprotective functions such as anti-oxidation, anti-inflammation, anti-cancer, antiapoptosis, and immunomodulatory in animal models of ischemia, hemorrhage, and traumatic brain injury as well as SCI through crosstalk with multiple genes and cell-signaling pathways at multiple levels. [10][11][12][13] In spite of the above facts, little is known about the antiinflammatory mechanism of curcumin in spinal cord tissues after SCI. It has been demonstrated that curcumin inhibited the expression of NF-κB and the release of inflammatory cytokines.…”

Neuroprotection through Stimulation of Mitochondrial Antioxidant Protein Expression

“…Products of these genes include SOD1 (cytosolic), SOD2 (mitochondrial), and SOD3 (extracellular) [86,87] and the peroxide detoxifying enzymes glutathione peroxidase [88] and catalase [89,90]. Nrf2 also mediates induction of glutamate-cysteine ligase catalytic subunit (GCLC) and glutamate-cysteine ligase, modifier subunit (GCLM), both of which are necessary for glutathione biosynthesis [91].…”