The Protective Effect of Curcumin on Myocardial Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury

Background and Objectives: Myocardial ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury is one of the major causes of cardiac mortality. Curcumin, an active component extracted from turmeric in curry, inhibits inflammatory responses. This study was designed to investigate whether curcumin can exert beneficial effects on myocardial I/R injury. Materials and Methods: Sprague-Dawley male rats received a normal diet or a curcumin diet (80 mg/kg/d) for one week, and I/R injury was induced by ligating the left anterior descending artery (LAD) for 30 min followed by release. After 24 hours, the myocardium was extracted to evaluate the myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity and the vascular cellular adhesion molecule (VCAM)-1 protein level. The apoptotic cardiomyocytes and neutrophils were counted and quantified by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) staining at 14 days after I/R. Results: In the infarcted myocardium of the curcumin-fed rats, the MPO activity (32.9±2.2% of the control, p=0.001) and the VCAM-1 protein (28.7±2.9% of control, p=0.001) level were significantly attenuated. The number of neutrophils was lower in the curcumin-fed rats (57±12% of the control, p=0.024). A reduction of the apoptotic cardiomyocytes was also observed in the curcumin-fed I/R rats (36± 9.2% of the control, p=0.032). Conclusion: The cardioprotective effects of curcumin on an I/R injury rat model could include anti-inflammation activities and inhibition of apoptosis that occurred in the cardiomyocytes. Our findings suggest that curcumin has a positive contribution as a dietary supplement for the prevention of heart disease. (Korean Circ J 2008;38:353-359)