Context: Curcumin has long been used as a condiment and a traditional medicine worldwide.
Objective: The current study investigates the possible protective effect of curcumin on heart function in myocardium ischemia-reperfusion (MIR) rats.
Materials and methods: We fed Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats (10 in each group) either curcumin (10, 20 or 30 mg/kg/d) or saline. Twenty days later, the rats were subjected to myocardial injuries by ligating the left anterior descending coronary artery (60 min), and subsequently, the heart (3 h) reperfused by releasing the ligation. Then, lipid profile, lipid peroxidation products, antioxidant enzymes and gene expression were assessed in myocardium tissue.
Results: Only the rats that were supplemented with curcumin (10, 20 or 30 mg/kg/d) showed significant (p < 0.05) reductions in oxidative stress (3-fold), infarct size (2.5-fold), which was smaller than that of the control group. The percentage of infarct size in MIR rats with curcumin at 10, 20 or 30 mg/kg/d decreased (from 49.1% to 18.3%) compared to ischemia-reperfusion (I/R). The enhanced phosphorylation of STAT3 was further strengthened by curcumin (10, 20 or 30 mg/kg/d) in a dose-dependent manner.
Discussion and conclusion: Curcumin intake might reduce the risk of coronary heart disease by stimulating JAK2/STAT3 signal pathway, decreasing oxidative damage and inhibiting myocardium apoptosis.
Keywords: Blood lipid; antioxidant; immunity; signal pathway.