Curcumin Treatment Enhances the Repair and Regeneration of Wounds in Mice Exposed to Hemibody ??-Irradiation

Abstract

Hemibody irradiation in multiple fractionated doses is frequently used for the treatment of various neoplastic disorders. It produces both acute and late effects on the skin and subcutaneous tissues that have profound implications in the healing of surgical wounds. Because of the crucial practical importance of hemibody radiation exposure associated with skin wounds, it is imperative to investigate the efficacy of cost-effective herbal products in the reconstruction of irradiated wounds. Therefore, the effect of pretreatment of curcumin was studied on the healing of excision wound in mice exposed to 2, 4, 6, or 8 Gy of hemibody gamma-radiation. A full-thickness skin wound was created by removing the skin flap of the dorsum of 8- to 10-week-old Swiss albino mice partially (lower half, below the rib cage) exposed to 2, 4, 6, or 8 Gy of gamma-radiation. The progression of wound contraction was monitored periodically by capturing video images of the wound, where the first image of each wound from different groups was obtained 1 day after wounding and that day was considered as day 0. Eight animals were used in each group at each exposure dose for wound contraction studies. Furthermore, the effect of curcumin on mean healing time after exposure of mice to 2, 4, 6, or 8Gy of hemibody gamma-radiation was also evaluated, where eight animals were used in each group at each exposure dose. Collagen, hexosamine, DNA, nitric oxide, and histologic profiles were also evaluated during the course of healing of excision wounds at days 4, 8, and 12 after irradiation treated or not with curcumin before exposure to 0 or 6 Gy of gamma-radiation. Six animals were used in each group at each interval for each biochemical parameter studied, except for histologic evaluations, where four animals were used in each group at each interval. Exposure of mice to different doses of gamma-radiation resulted in a dose-dependent delay in contraction and wound-healing time of excision wound, whereas curcumin pretreatment caused a significant elevation in the rate of wound contraction and a decrease in the mean wound-healing time. Treatment with curcumin before irradiation enhanced the synthesis of collagen, hexosamine, DNA, nitrite, and nitrate, and histologic assessment of wound biopsy specimens revealed improved collagen deposition and an increase in fibroblast and vascular densities. The authors' study demonstrates that curcumin pretreatment has a conducive effect on the irradiated wound and could be a substantial therapeutic strategy for ameliorating radiation-induced delay in wound repair in cases of radiation-induced skin injuries.

Topical Application of Hesperidin, a Citrus Bioflavanone Accelerates Healing of Full Thickness Dermal Excision Wounds in Mice Exposed to 6 Gy of Whole Body Γ-Radiation

“…Whole body irradiation of mice to 6 Gy caused a significant retardation in wound contraction leading to an increase in the wound healing time significantly in mice. This is in conformation with earlier studies, where a similar effect has been reported [8,[12][13][14]16,47]. This may be due to several possible reasons including inhibition of inflammatory reactions, fibroblast and connective tissue proliferation, formation and maturation of granulation tissue after irradiation [4,9,48].…”

“…Similarly, topical application of curcumin ointment has been reported to accelerate the healing of irradiated excision wound recently [60]. The ascorbic acid and curcumin have been reported to accelerate healing of wounds in mice exposed to whole body γ-radiation [12,14,61,62]. The extract of Nigella sativa has been also reported to enhance the healing of irradiated wound recently [47].…”

“…The hairs of the dorsum of each animal were depilated with a cordless electric mouse clipper (Wahl Clipper Corporation, Illinois, USA) before exposure to γ radiation and a full-thickness skin wound was produced on the dorsum (below the rib cage) after 10 min of irradiation [12][13][14]. Briefly, the animals were anesthetized using ketamine and the entire body was cleaned and decontaminated by wiping with sterillium (Bode Chemical Company, Hamburg, Germany) disinfectant solution.…”

“…Irradiation has been reported to alter the local conditions of wound, resulting in a delay in wound contraction, which is non-conducive to continuance of healing process [8,[11][12][13][14]. The combination of wounding and Whole Body Irradiation (WBI) has been reported to retard wound healing and the mechanisms are not fully understood [12,13,15,16]. The recent nuclear disaster at Fukushima and threat of nuclear warfare indicate that countermeasures are required to deal with the combined injuries in such a situation [17].…”

Curcumin Enhanced Cutaneous Wound Healing by Modulating Cytokines and Transforming Growth Factor in Excision Wound Model in Rats

“…Curcumin also downregulates the expression of COX2, LOX, NOS, MMP-9, TNF-α, cell surface adhesion molecules, and cyclin D1 (Aggarwal et al, 2004) which are important players of inflammatory and anti-inflammatory responses. Curcumin pretreatment enhances the synthesis of collagen, hexosamine, DNA, nitrite, and histologic assessment of wound biopsy specimens showed improved collagen deposition and an increase in fibroblast and vascular densities suggesting that curcumin may be able to improve radiation-induced delay in wound repair (Jagetia and Rajanikant, 2005). The use of herbal products in the treatment of wound may be of wide acceptability, better tolerance and inexpensive.…”