Effects of curcumin on oxidative stress, inflammation and apoptosis in L-arginine induced acute pancreatitis in mice

Abstract

L-arginine (L-arg) is an amino acid that has been used to induce acute pancreatitis (AP) in mice. Curcumin is an active ingredient constituent of rhizomes of the plant Curcuma longa Linn. It has been used for the treatment of inflammatory conditions and shown to exhibit a variety of biological activities such as anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant. The present study aims to examine the effects of curcumin on oxidative stress, inflammation and apoptosis in AP. Male ICR mice were randomly divided into 4 groups. 1) Control group, mice will be received i.p. of 1% DMSO as a vehicle. 2) AP group, mice will be received two i.p. of L-arg 450 mg/100 g BW at an interval of 1 h apart. 3) AP + low dose curcumin group, mice will be received curcumin 50 mg/kg bw by i.p. 1 h before L-Arg injection and then once daily for 3 days. 4) AP + high dose curcumin group, mice will be received curcumin 200 mg/kg bw by i.p. 1 h before L-Arg injection and then once daily for 3 days. The mice were sacrificed at 72 h. The pancreatic tissue was fixed for histological evaluation and for NF-kB, apoptosis and MPO immunohistochemistry. The second part was frozen until using protein extraction for 4-HNE examination. Blood sample will be collected for amylase analysis. In AP group, body weight was significantly reduced than control group. While in curcumin group, body weight was maintained. The serum amylase, number of MPO positive cells, NF-kB positive cells, TUNEL positive cells, and 4-HNE expression were increased significantly in AP group when compared with control group, while decreased in low and high dose of curcumin group. Moreover, the AP group showed inflammation, edema and fat necrosis of severe activity of AP. While curcumin low and high dose group showed significantly attenuating histopathological score. However, there is no significant difference between low and high dose of curcumin. In conclusion, curcumin could attenuate AP via anti-oxidant, anti-inflammation and anti-apoptosis property leading to improve pancreatic damage.