title: Curcumin as a double-edged sword for stem cells: dose, time and cell type-specific responses to curcumin.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The beneficial effects of curcumin which includes its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and cancer chemo-preventive properties have been identified. Little information is available regarding the optimal dose and treatment periods of curcumin on the proliferation rate of different sources of stem cells.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this study, the effect of various concentrations of curcumin on the survival and proliferation of two types of outstanding stem cells which includes bone marrow stem cells (BMSCs) and adult rat neural stem/progenitor cells (NS/PCs) at different time points was investigated. BMSCs were isolated from bilateral femora and tibias of adult Wistar rats. NS/PCs were obtained from subventricular zone of adult Wistar rat brain. The curcumin (0.1, 0.5, 1, 5 and 10 μM/L) was added into a culture medium for 48 or 72 h. Fluorescent density of 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (Brdu)-positive cells was considered as proliferation index. In addition, cell viability was assessed by MTT assay.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Treatment of BMSCs with curcumin after 48 h, increased cell survival and proliferation in a dose-dependent manner. However, it had no effect on NSCs proliferation except a toxic effect in the concentration of 10 μM of curcumin. After a 72 h treatment period, BMSCs and NS/PCs survived and proliferated with low doses of curcumin. However, high doses of curcumin administered for 72 h showed toxic effects on both stem cells.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings suggest that curcumin survival and proliferative effects depend on its concentration, treatment period and the type of stem cells. Appropriate application of these results may be helpful in the outcome of combination therapy of stem cells and curcumin.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, School of Advanced Technologies in medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. feriattari@gmail.com.|Shefa Neuroscience Research Center, Khatamolanbia Hospital, Tehran, Iran. feriattari@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Fatemeh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Attari
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, School of Advanced Technologies in medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. zahmatkm@tums.ac.ir.
authors.forename: Maryam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zahmatkesh
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, School of Advanced Technologies in medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. hadialigholi@yahoo.com.|Shefa Neuroscience Research Center, Khatamolanbia Hospital, Tehran, Iran. hadialigholi@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Hadi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Aligholi
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. ejtem@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Shahram Ejtemaei
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Mehr
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Pharmacy, and Pharmaceutical Sciences Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. msharifzadeh@tums.ac.ir.
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sharifzadeh
authors.affiliation: Shefa Neuroscience Research Center, Khatamolanbia Hospital, Tehran, Iran. f_attari2004@yahoo.com.|Epilepsy Research Center, WestfälischeWilhelms-UniversitätMünster, Münster, Germany. f_attari2004@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gorji
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. mokhtari.tmn@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Tahmineh
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mokhtari
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Medical College, Lorestan University of Medical Sciences, Khorramabad, Iran. mojkhaksar@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Mojtaba
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Khaksarian
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, School of Advanced Technologies in medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. hassanzadeh@tums.ac.ir.|Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. hassanzadeh@tums.ac.ir.
authors.forename: Gholamreza
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hassanzadeh
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001854:Bone Marrow Cells / Q000166:cytology; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003474:Curcumin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005269:Femur / Q000166:cytology; D008297:Male; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000187:drug effects*; D058953:Neural Stem Cells / Q000187:drug effects*; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013977:Tibia / Q000166:cytology
chemical_list: D003474:Curcumin