The anti-inflammatory effects of Curcuma longa and Berberis aristata in endotoxin-induced uveitis in rabbits.

PURPOSE To investigate the anti-inflammatory effect of topical application of Curcuma longa (C. longa) and Berberis aristata (B. aristata) aqueous extracts on experimental uveitis in the rabbit. METHODS Anterior uveitis was induced in rabbits by intravitreal injection of lipopolysaccharide from Escherichia coli after pretreatment with C. longa and B. aristata aqueous extracts. Subsequently, the anti-inflammatory activity of C. longa and B. aristata was evaluated by grading the clinical signs and histopathologic changes and estimating the inflammatory cell count, protein, and TNF-alpha levels in the aqueous humor. RESULTS The anterior segment inflammation in the control group was significantly higher than in both the extract-treated groups, as observed by clinical and histopathologic grading. The inflammatory cell count in the control group was 30.75 +/- 7.33 x 10(5) cells/mL, whereas it was 2.39 +/- 0.59 x 10(5) (P < 0.001 vs. control) and 11.56 +/- 2.44 x 10(5) (P = 0.001 vs. control) cells/mL in the C. longa- and B. aristata-treated groups, respectively. The protein content of the aqueous humor was 18.14 +/- 4.98, 3.16 +/- 0.55 (P < 0.001 vs. control), and 8.24 +/- 1.42 (P < 0.01 vs. control) mg/mL in the control, C. longa-, and B. aristata-treated groups, respectively. The aqueous TNF-alpha level in the control group was 976.29 +/- 66.38 pg/mL and was 311.96 +/- 28.50 (P < 0.0001 vs. control) and 654.09 +/- 47.66 (P < 0.001vs. control) pg/mL in the C. longa- and B. aristata-treated groups, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Topical instillation of aqueous extracts of C. longa and B. aristata showed potent anti-inflammatory activity against endotoxin-induced uveitis in rabbits.