Curcumin improves the recovery of motor function and reduces spinal cord edema in a rat acute spinal cord injury model by inhibiting the JAK/STAT signaling pathway

• Published in: Acta histochemica Vol. 116; no. 8; pp. 1331 - 1336
• Main Authors: Zu, Jianing, Wang, Yufu, Xu, Gongping, Zhuang, Jinpeng, Gong, He, Yan, Jinglong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany Elsevier GmbH 01.10.2014
• Subjects: Animals; Aquaporin 4 - metabolism; Aquaporin–4; Curcumin; Curcumin - therapeutic use; Disease Models, Animal; Edema; Edema - drug therapy; Edema - metabolism; Glial fibrillary acidic protein; Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein - metabolism; Injuries; Injury prevention; JAK/STAT signaling; Janus Kinases - metabolism; Male; Mathematical models; Motors; Pathways; Protective; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Signal Transduction - drug effects; Spinal cord; Spinal Cord Injuries - drug therapy; Spinal Cord Injuries - metabolism; Spinal cord injury; STAT Transcription Factors - metabolism; Aquaporin–4; Curcumin; Spinal cord injury; JAK/STAT signaling; Glial fibrillary acidic protein
• ISSN: 0065-1281; 1618-0372
• DOI: 10.1016/j.acthis.2014.08.004

Curcumin, a yellow pigment extracted from Carcuma longa, has been demonstrated to have extensive pharmacological activity in various studies, and it exhibits protective effects on injuries involving a number of human organs. The present study was designed to evaluate the potential effect and underlying mechanism of curcumin on the motor function and spinal cord edema in a rat acute spinal cord injury (SCI) model. The SCI model was induced by a heavy object falling. At 30min after the SCI was successfully induced, the animals were intraperitoneally given 40mg/kg curcumin. The Basso, Beattie and Bresnahan scores showed that curcumin moderately improved the recovery of the motor function in the injured rats, and hematoxylin–eosin staining demonstrated the role of this compound in reducing the hemorrhage, edema and neutrophil infiltration of the traumatic spinal cord. Furthermore, curcumin also inhibited the SCI-associated aquaporin – 4 (AQP4) overexpression and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and repressed the unusual activation of the JAK/STAT signaling pathway. In conclusion, our data demonstrate that curcumin exhibits a moderately protective effect on spinal cord injury, and this effect might be related to the inhibition of overexpressed AQP4 and GFAP and the activated JAK/STAT signaling pathway. Curcumin may have potential for use as a therapeutic option for spinal cord injuries.