Curcumin Increase the Expression of Neural Stem/Progenitor Cells and Improves Functional Recovery after Spinal Cord Injury.

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Curcumin Increase the Expression of Neural Stem/Progenitor Cells and Improves Functional Recovery after Spinal Cord Injury.

J Korean Neurosurg Soc. 2018 Jan;61(1):10-18

Authors: Bang WS, Kim KT, Seo YJ, Cho DC, Sung JK, Kim CH

Abstract
Objective: To investigates the effect of curcumin on proliferation of spinal cord neural stem/progenitor cells (SC-NSPCs) and functional outcome in a rat spinal cord injury (SCI) model.
Methods: Sixty adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly and blindly allocated into three groups (sham control group; curcumin treated group after SCI; vehicle treated group after SCI). Functional recovery was evaluated by the Basso, Beattie, and Bresnahan (BBB) scale during 6 weeks after SCI. The expression of SC-NSPC proliferation and astrogliosis were analyzed by nestin/Bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) and Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) staining. The injured spinal cord was then examined histologically, including quantification of cavitation.
Results: The BBB score of the SCI-curcumin group was better than that of SCI-vehicle group up to 14 days (p<0.05). The co-immunoreactivity of nestin/BrdU in the SCI-curcumin group was much higher than that of the SCI-vehicle group 1 week after surgery (p<0.05). The GFAP immunoreactivity of the SCI-curcumin group was remarkably lower than that of the SCI-vehicle group 4 weeks after surgery (p<0.05). The lesion cavity was significantly reduced in the curcumin group as compared to the control group (p<0.05).
Conclusion: These results indicate that curcumin could increase the expression of SC-NSPCs, and reduce the activity of reactive astrogliosis and lesion cavity. Consequently curcumin could improve the functional recovery after SCI via SC-NSPC properties.

PMID: 29354231 [PubMed]

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