Curcumin reversion of neurochemical and immunohistochemical alterations in brain ischemia is related to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties

Abstract

Stroke is one leading cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide where free radicals production and inflammation play important roles. Curcumin, a curcuminoid from Curcuma longa presents several biological properties and is a potent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant agent. The objectives were to study the neuroprotective effects of curcumin on ischemic pups from mothers treated with this drug (25, 50 or 100 mg/kg) during lactation. Twenty-one-day old pups were anesthetized with ketamine and xylazine, and submitted to global ischemia by clamping the carotid arteries, followed by 15 min reperfusion of the right artery and cut of the left artery. At the next day, the pups were treated with curcumin (25, 50 or 100 mg/kg) or vehicle, for 3 days. The sham operated group (SO) was subjected to the same procedure, except for carotid clamping. After 3 days, the animals were euthanized and brain areas isolated for neurochemical (monoamines, lipid peroxidation and nitrite determinations), histological (fluoro-jade staining) and immunohistochemical (TNF-alpha, iNOS and COX-2) assays. The results show that ischemia decreased DA and DOPAC as well as NE contents in the pups’ striatum, as related to the SO group, and curcumin treatments reversed these alterations. Brain ischemia decreased hippocampal neuronal viability also reversed by curcumin. Furthermore, ischemia drastically increased TNF-alpha, iNOS and COX-2 immunore activities in the hippocampus, and these effects were completely reversed after curcumin treatments. In conclusion, curcumin treatments reversed brain alterations presented after ischemia, representing a potential drug to be considered for prevention or treatment of pathological conditions as stroke.