Objective To investigate the mechanism of curcumin administration on gastric emptying induced by L-arginine in mice. Methods Kunming male mice were divided into control group, curcumin group, L-arginine group and curcumin L-arginine combination group.There were nine mice in each group. The curcumin group and curcumin L-arginine combination group were treated with curcumin solution once a day for 15 days. From the 11th day onwards, the L-arginine group and the curcumin L-arginine combination group were given intragastric administration of L-arginine once a day for 5 days. The other groups were given solvent solution as control. The gastric emptying rate, NO content and nitric oxide synthase (NOS) activity in gastric tissue were measured after fasting for 24 hours. Results There was no significant difference between single curcumin group and the control group (P>0.05). But the gastric emptying rate in L-arginine group was significantly lower (P<0.01), the NO and the activity of NOS in stomach tissue was significantly higher (P<0.01) than that in the control group. The gastric emptying rate in curcumin L-arginine combination group was significantly higher (P<0.01), the NO content and the activity of NOS in gastric tissue was significantly higher (P<0.01) than that in L-arginine group. Conclusion curcumin can inhibit the production of no by inhibiting the NOS activity of gastric tissue, and then improve the gastric emptying of mice.
Keywords: Curcumin, L-arginine, Gastric EmptyingCurcumin is a phenolic plant of the family Curcumae extracted from the rhizome of turmeric. It has many biological activities, such as cardiovascular protection and anti-tumor [1 , 2] . Curcumin could significantly improve the gastrointestinal peristalsis induced by L-arginine [3] . However, the specific mechanism of curcumin was not clear.The L-arginine was the precursor of NO. NO as a non-cholinergic non-adrenergic neurotransmitter can be produced under the action of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) in vivo and plays an inhibitory role in gastrointestinal motility. The effect of curcumin on the production of NO was investigated by detecting the content of NO and the activity of NOS in gastric tissue of mice.
Methods
Animals and treatmentThirty-six healthy male Kunming mice were randomly divided into control group, curcumin group, L-arginine group and curcumin L-arginine combination group. Curcumin group and curcumin L-arginine combination group was given curcumin suspension 200mg/kg for 15days. The L-arginine group was treated with L-arginine on the 11th day of gavage.The other groups were given the same amount of solvent solution as the control.
Gastric emptying rateAt the end of the experiment, the mice in each group fasted for 24 hours and drank freely. The mice were perfused with 0.8ml half fluid suspension of 80% mass fraction of Arabinol, then the mice were killed after 20 min. The gastric cardia and pylorus were ligated by caesarean section, and the total weight of stomach was removed. The appetizers were cut along the great ...