[Protective effects of curcumin on neonatal rats with necrotizing enterocolitis].
OBJECTIVE
This study examined the effects of curcumin on intestinal histopathological changes, cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and interleukin-10 (IL-10) concentrations in neonatal rats with necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), in order to investigate the effects of curcumin against NEC.


METHODS
Forty neonatal rats were randomly divided into four groups (n=10 each): normal control, solvent control, NEC model, and curcumin intervention. The general situations of rats were observed for 3 consecutive days, and the rats were then sacrificed on the 4th day. Intestinal tissues were obtained for examining the histopathological changes, COX-2 expression, and TNF-alpha and IL-10 concentrations.


RESULTS
Curcumin treatment ameliorated the general situations and histopathological signs in rats with NEC. TNF-alpha and IL-10 concentrations in the NEC model and the curcumin intervention groups increased significantly compared with those in the normal and solvent control groups (p<0.05). The concentration of TNF-alpha decreased (p<0.05), while the concentration of IL-10 increased significantly in the curcumin intervention group in comparison with the NEC model group (p<0.05). Immunohistochemistry results indicated that the positive expression of COX-2 in the curcumin intervention group was significantly lower than that in the NEC model group.


CONCLUSIONS
Curcumin has protective effects against NEC in neonatal rats, possibly through inhibiting COX-2 expression, reducing TNF-alpha content, and increasing IL-10 content.
Jia
Sheng-Hua
SH
Department of Neonatology, Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400014, China.
Wei
Hong
H
Yu
Jia-Lin
JL
Wei
Xiao-Di
XD
Zhang
Xiao-Ping
XP
Li
Jin-Chun
JC
D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001835:Body Weight; D003474:Curcumin / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D051546:Cyclooxygenase 2 / Q000032:analysis / Q000502:physiology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D020345:Enterocolitis, Necrotizing / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D016753:Interleukin-10 / Q000032:analysis; D007422:Intestines / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D016328:NF-kappa B / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000032:analysis
D016328:NF-kappa B; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D016753:Interleukin-10; D051546:Cyclooxygenase 2; D003474:Curcumin