Objective: To investigate the protective effects and potential mechanism of curcumin on bronchopulmonary dysplasis (BPD) induced by 600 mL/L oxygen in newborn rats.
Methods: 108 Sprague-Dawley (SD) specific pathogen-free newborn rats within 6 h after birth were randomly divided into room air group (RA group), 600 mL/L oxygen group (O2 group) and 600 mL/L oxygen + Curcumin group (O2 + Cu group). Eight rats were randomly taken from each group and killed at 4, 7 and 14 d, respectively, after the treatment, and their lung tissues were incised for HE staining. The expressions of IL-6, IL-10 in serum and lung tissue were detected by ELISA; and the protein expression of IGF-I was measured by immunohistochemical method. RESULTS Comparing with the RA group, we found that newborn rats exposed to 600 mL/L oxygen develop a heterogeneous parenchymal lung injury with areas of arrested alveolarization and growth mixed with areas of interstitial thinning, meanwhile, both the expression of IL-6 and IL-10 in serum and lung tissue increased significantly (P < 0.05). However, in O2 + Cu group, IL-6 expression was decreased in different degrees while IL-10 increased significantly (P < 0.05). The highest expression level of IGF-I in RA group were much higher from 4 d to 7 d (alveolar development period) but significantly lower in 14 d. There was a positive correlation between IGF-I and alveolar development. In comparison with RA group, the expression levels of IGF-I in O2 group were significantly lower in 4 d and 7 d but were significantly higher in 14 d (P < 0.05); In comparison with O2 group, the expression levels of IGF-I in O2 group significantly increased in 4 d and 7 d but significantly reduced in 14 d (P < 0.05).
Conclusion: Curcumin may partly prevent the lung injury induced by prolonged hyperoxia exposure in neonatal rats probably via modulating the expressions of IL-6, IL-10 and IGF-I in serum and lung tissue.