title: Curcumin could prevent the development of chronic neuropathic pain in rats with peripheral nerve injury.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Peripheral nerve injury results in chronic neuropathic pain characterized by allodynia and/or spontaneous pain. It has been suggested that activation of mitogen-activated protein kinases such as extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) contribute to the neuropathic pain.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We investigated if curcumin could prevent the development of neuropathic pain in rats with chronic constriction injury (CCI) of the sciatic nerve.
  
  
  METHODS
  The animals were divided into 3 groups. In the curcumin treatment group (n = 10), curcumin (50 mg/kg/d PO) was administered once daily from 1 day before CCI to 7 days after CCI. The rats in the sham group (n = 10) and CCI group (n = 10) received a control vehicle. The mechanical allodynia was assessed using von Frey at 1, 3, 5, and 7 days after nerve injury. Western blots were used to evaluate the levels of p-ERK, p-JNK, and phosphorylation of NR1 (p-NR1) subunits of N-methyl-D-aspartate in the spinal dorsal root ganglion.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the CCI group, mechanical allodynia was observed during 7 days after nerve injury. However, curcumin treatment reversed the mechanical allodynia 7 days after nerve ligation. There were no differences in the expression of p-ERK, p-JNK, and p-NR1 between the sham and curcumin groups. However, the expression of p-ERK, p-JNK, and p-NR1 in the CCI group were higher than the sham group and curcumin group, respectively (P < 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Treatment with curcumin during the early stages of peripheral neuropathy can prevent the development of chronic neuropathic pain.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, School of Dentistry, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Younghoon
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jeon
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Science and Nutrition, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Chae-Eun
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Kyungpook National University Hospital, Daegu, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Dongho
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Kyungpook National University Hospital, Daegu, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Kyunghwa
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kwak
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Kyungpook National University Hospital, Daegu, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Sungsik
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Kyungpook National University Hospital, Daegu, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Donggun
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Kyungpook National University Hospital, Daegu, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Sioh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Kyungpook National University Hospital, Daegu, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Woonyi
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Baek
keywords: curcumin; mitogen-activated protein kinases; neuropathic pain