Neuroprotective effect of curcumin on chronic unpredictable mild stress rats
DENG Li1 GENG Chunmei2 LIAO Dehua3 JIANG Pei2 HAN Wenxiu2
1.Department of Health Management, the First People′s Hospital of Jining City, Shandong Province, Jining 272002, China;
2.Department of Clinical Pharmacy, the First People′s Hospital of Jining City, Shandong Province, Jining 272002, China;
3.Department of Pharmacology, Hu′nan Cancer Hospital, Hu′nan Province, Changsha 410006, China
Abstract:Objective To explore the effect and mechanism of curcumin on corticosterone level, neuroplasticity and apoptosis in chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) rats. Methods Twenty-four SD rats were divided into control group, model group and treatment group by random number table method, with 8 rats in each group. Model group and treatment group were given chronic stress model, treatment group was given 100 mg/(kg·d) curcumin, model group and control group were given the same volume of normal saline. After 4 weeks, the behavioral indexes, serum corticosterone level, BDNF, PSD-95, SYN protein expression and apoptosis in hippocampus were measured. Results The sugar preference of model group was significantly lower than that of control group, and that of treatment group was significantly higher than that of model group (P < 0.01). The immobility time of model group was significantly longer than that of control group, and that of treatment group was significantly shorter than that of model group (P < 0.01). Compared with control group, the level of serum corticosterone in model group increased significantly (P < 0.01); compared with model group, the level of serum corticosterone in treatment group decreased significantly (P < 0.01). Compared with control group, the expression of BDNF, PSD-95 and SYN protein in the hippocampus of model group decreased significantly (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01); compared with model group, the expression of BDNF, PSD-95 and SYN protein in the hippocampus of treatment group increased significantly (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). Compared with control group, the number of apoptotic positive cells and apoptotic index increased significantly in model group (P < 0.01); compared with model group, the number of apoptotic positive cells and apoptotic index decreased significantly in treatment group (P < 0.01). Conclusion The potential antidepressant effect of curcumin is first demonstrated in the rat model of depression. Its mechanism may be related to the regulation of serum corticosterone level, neural plasticity and anti apoptosis.