Curcumin improves diabetes mellitus‑associated cerebral infarction by increasing the expression of GLUT1 and GLUT3

Abstract

Curcumin is characterized by anti‑inflammatory, anti‑oxidative, antiviral, antifibrotic, anticoagulation and glucose regulatory functions. However, whether it is protective in diabetes mellitus‑associated cerebral infarction remains to be fully elucidated. In the present study, it was demonstrated for the first time, to the best of our knowledge, that curcumin markedly improved neurological deficits, cerebral infarct volume and brain edema rate following middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) surgery. It was also shown that the expression levels of glucose transporter (GLUT)1 and GLUT3 were reduced in the MCAO group. However, following curcumin treatment, the levels of GLUT1 and GLUT3 were markedly increased. In addition, curcumin markedly decreased cell apoptosis, indicating an anti‑apoptotic role of curcumin in the brain. To further evaluate whether curcumin prevented cell apoptosis by modulating the expression of GLUT1 and GLUT3, small interfering RNAs targeting GLUT1 and GLUT3 were selected. It was found that the knockdown of GLUT1 and GLUT3 inhibited the abundance of GLUT1, GLUT3 and B‑cell lymphoma 2, even following incubation with curcumin. These data showed that curcumin protected brain cells from apoptosis and cerebral infarction, predominantly by upregulating GLUT1 and GLUT3.

Substantiation for the Use of Curcumin during the Development of Neurodegeneration after Brain Ischemia

“…In animal focal cerebral ischemia, curcumin reduced both the volume of brain infarction [109][110][111][112][113][114][115][116][117][118][119] and brain edema [109,110,[113][114][115]120,121] and gave better neurological outcomes than in the vehicle group [112,114,117,122]. Curcumin improved sensory, motor, and locomotor activity, both smaller neurobehavioral and neurological deficits [111,115,117,119,120,123,124].…”

“…Curcumin improved sensory, motor, and locomotor activity, both smaller neurobehavioral and neurological deficits [111,115,117,119,120,123,124]. Curcumin also reduced neuronal apoptosis by increasing the anti-apoptotic Bcl2 protein at the mitochondrial level, lowered cytosolic cytochrome c translocation [112,118] and decreased the mitochondrial membrane potential [121,125]. In addition, it causes reduced apoptosis [124][125][126] via caspase-3 mRNA downregulation [117,119] and stimulates neurogenesis [123] (Figure 1).…”

Curcumin, demethoxycurcumin, and bisdemethoxycurcumin induced caspase-dependent and –independent apoptosis via Smad or Akt signaling pathways in HOS cells

“…The three major chemical constituents and biological activities of turmeric were approximately 77% curcumin (CUR), 17% demethoxycurcumin (DMC), and 3% bisdemethoxycurcumin (BDMC), which are belong to curcuminoids [1,2]. Cur, a linear diarylheptanoid, is a natural phenolic compound and it has been well known and used to treat many diseases, such as cancer [3][4][5][6], diabetes [7,8], inflammation [1] and neurodegenerative disorders [9,10]. In spite of the potential health benefits of CUR, its clinical applications are limited due to its low oral bioavailability, low water solubility, and instability at acidic Ph [11,12].…”

Synthesis of Novel Biologically Active Thiazole Dyes and Their Applications

“…FTIR spectrophotometer PyeUnicam SP-3-300 was used via potassium bromide disks. 1 H-NMR spectra were run at 400 MHz, on a Varian Mercury VX-300 NMR spectrometer using (DMSO-d6) and chemical shifts (ϭ) were mentioned in ppm. The mass spectra were recorded on Shimadzu GCMS-QP-1000EX mass spectrometers at 70 eV at the Micro analytical Centre.…”

“…The Curcumin is the most popular yellow and red natural dyes, respectively. Curcumin is a vigorous constituent in turmeric "Curcuma longa L" that is utilized as a nutrition pigment [1].…”