Curcumin has anti-inflammatory, antioxidative, anticarcinogenic, and cardiovascular protective effects. Our study is aimed at evaluating the effects of pretreatment with curcumin nanoparticles (CCNP) compared to conventional curcumin (CC) on isoproterenol (ISO) induced myocardial infarction (MI) in rats. Fifty-six Wistar-Bratislava white rats were randomly divided into eight groups of seven rats each. Curcumin and curcumin nanoparticles were given by gavage in three different doses (100 mg/kg body weight (bw), 150 mg/kg bw, and 200 mg/kg bw) for 15 days. The MI was induced on day 13 using 100 mg/kg bw ISO administered twice, with the second dose 24 h after the initial dose. The blood samples were taken 24 h after the last dose of ISO. The antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and cardioprotective effects were evaluated in all groups. All doses of CC and CCNP offered a cardioprotective effect by preventing creatine kinase-MB leakage from cardiomyocytes, with the best result for CCNP. All the oxidative stress parameters were significantly improved after CCNP compared to CC pretreatment. CCNP was more efficient than CC in limiting the increase in inflammatory cytokine levels (such as TNF-α, IL-6, IL-1α, IL-1β, MCP-1, and RANTES) after MI. MMP-2 and MMP-9 levels decreased more after pretreatment with CCNP than with CC. CCNP better prevented myocardial necrosis and reduced interstitial edema and neutrophil infiltration than CC, on histopathological examination. Therefore, improving the bioactivity of curcumin by nanotechnology may help limit cardiac injury after myocardial infarction.

Microsatellite instability (MSI) or the deficiency of mismatch repair (MMR) proteins is one of the molecular pathways of colorectal tumorigenesis and may have important clinical implications in predicting the treatment response. We evaluated the relationship between clinicopathological features and MMR proteins [mutL homologue 1 (MLH1), mutS homologue 2 (MSH2), mutS homologue 6 (MSH6), postmeiotic segregation increased 2 (PMS2)], adhesion molecules (E-cadherin, beta-catenin) and caudal-type homeobox 2 (CDX2) in 31 patients with colon adenocarcinoma, using immunohistochemistry. We also aimed to assess the prognostic value of the studied proteins. MLH1 loss was correlated to PMS2 loss (p=0.006) and MSH2 loss (p=0.023); MSH2 loss was significantly associated to MSH6 loss (p=0.011). Tumors with MSH6 loss, together with tumors with PMS2 loss, covered all the patients with MSI status. We found a significant correlation between MSI tumors and mucinous histological type (p=0.03), but no significant associations with other clinicopathological features or with survival rate. There was a significant correlation between E-cadherin expression and differentiation degree (p=0.018) and between beta-catenin expression and lymph node invasion (p=0.046). No significant association between CDX2 loss and any clinical or pathological features was found (p>0.05). No significant differences were identified in overall survival according to E-cadherin, beta-catenin or CDX2 expression (p>0.05). In our study, PMS2 loss was significantly correlated with CDX2 loss (p=0.03). In conclusion, the molecular analysis of biological markers for colon cancer may be important for patient stratification, in order to select the optimal treatment algorithm. Our results suggest that probably the double panel (MSH6 and PMS2) is enough to detect the MSI status, instead of using the quadruple panel.

Curcumin (CC) is known to have anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative properties and has already been tested for its efficiency in different diseases including diabetes mellitus (DM). New formulations and route administration were designed to obtain products with higher bioavailability. Our study aimed to test the effect of intraperitoneal (i.p.) administration of liposomal curcumin (lCC) as pre-treatment in streptozotocin(STZ)-induced DM in rats on oxidative stress, liver, and pancreatic functional parameters. Forty-two Wistar-Bratislava rats were randomly divided into six groups (seven animals/group): control (no diabetes), control-STZ (STZ-induced DM —60 mg/100g body weight a single dose intraperitoneal administration, and no CC pre-treatment), two groups with DM and CC pre-treatment (1mg/100g bw—STZ + CC1, 2 mg/100g bw—STZ + CC2), and two groups with DM and lCC pre-treatment (1 mg/100g bw—STZ + lCC1, 2 mg/100g bw—STZ + lCC1). Intraperitoneal administration of Curcumin in diabetic rats showed a significant reduction of nitric oxide, malondialdehyde, total oxidative stress, and catalase for both evaluated formulations (CC and lCC) compared to control group (p < 0.005), with higher efficacy of lCC formulation compared to CC solution (p < 0.002, excepting catalase for STZ + CC2vs. STZ + lCC1when p = 0.0845). The CC and lCC showed hepatoprotective and hypoglycemic effects, a decrease in oxidative stress and improvement in anti-oxidative capacity status against STZ-induced DM in rats (p < 0.002). The lCC also proved better efficacy on MMP-2, and -9 plasma levels as compared to CC (p < 0.003, excepting STZ + CC2 vs. STZ + lCC1 comparison with p = 0.0553). The lCC demonstrated significantly better efficacy as compared to curcumin solution on all serum levels of the investigated markers, sustaining its possible use as adjuvant therapy in DM.

Curcumin from Curcuma longa is a nutraceutical compound reported to possess strong antioxidant activity that makes it a candidate for use in counteracting oxidative stress-induced damage. The effect of pre-treatment with curcumin nanoparticles (nC) compared to conventional curcumin (Cs) on blood pressure, electrocardiogram, and biological changes on isoproterenol (ISO)-induced myocardial infarction (MI) in rats had been investigated. The Cs doses of 150 and 200 mg/kg bw and all nC doses (100, 150 and 200 mg/kg bw) significantly reduced heart rate before ISO administration and prevented QRS complex enlargement after MI induction (p < 0.026). All doses of Cs and nC prevented prolongation of the QT and QT corrected (QTc) intervals, with better results for higher doses (p < 0.048). The nC solution had more significant results than Cs in all metabolic parameters assessed (lactate dehydrogenase, glycaemia, aspartate transaminase, and alanine transaminase, p < 0.009). nC was more efficient than Cs in limiting myocardial oxidative stress and enhancing antioxidative capacity (p < 0.004). Compared to Cs, nC better prevented myocardial damage extension, reduced interstitial oedema, and inflammation. Curcumin nanoparticles as compared to conventional curcumin exert better antioxidative effects. Moreover, nC better prevent cardiomyocytes damage, and electrocardiogram alterations, in the case of ISO-induced MI in rats.

BackgroundCurcumin has antioxidative properties that could be useful in various diseases due to its ability to act on multiple targets of various cellular pathways. We aimed to assess the efficacy of liposomal curcumin compared with curcumin solution, when in addition to sumatriptan (ST) treatment, in an experimental migraine model induced with nitroglycerin (NTG) in rats.MethodsSeven groups of 9 rats each were investigated: control group without migraine (1 mL saline solution intraperitoneal injection [ip]), control group with induced migraine, NTG+ST group (ST), NTG+ST+curcumin1 (CC1) group – 1 mg/100 g body weight (bw), NTG+ST+CC2 – 2 mg/100 g bw, NTG+ST+liposomal curcumin1 (lCC1) group – 1 mg/100 g bw, and NTG+ST+lCC2 (lCC2) group – 2 mg/100 g bw. NTG and ST were administered as 1 mL ip NTG | 1 mg/100 g bw and 1 mL ip ST | 1 mg/100 g bw, respectively. Plasma total oxidative stress (TOS), malondialdehyde (MDA), nitric oxide (NOx), thiol levels, as well as total antioxidative capacity (TAC) were assessed. The nociception process was assessed by counting the number of flinches and shakes after the formalin test.ResultsThe plasma TOS, MDA, and NOx levels, as oxidative stress parameters, were significantly decreased in the curcumin-treated groups, especially where curcumin was in liposomal form. The thiol and TAC were also improved by the curcumin treatment, with the best results obtained for the liposomal curcumin. The closest number of flinches and shakes to the control group was obtained for the group treated with liposomal curcumin at a dose of 2 mg/100 g bw.ConclusionLiposomal curcumin in a dose of 2 mg/100 g bw when in addition to ST treatment could be an optimum therapeutic strategy for migraine attacks and could represent a base for future clinical research and application.