The Protective Effects of Curcumin on Experimental Acute Liver Lesion Induced by Intestinal Ischemia-Reperfusion through Inhibiting the Pathway of NF-κB in a Rat Model

OBJECTIVE: In this study, we investigated the protective effect and mechanism of curcumin on a rat model of intestinal ischemia/reperfusion (I/R), which induces an acute liver lesion. METHODS: Curcumin was injected into rats in the curcumin groups through left femoral vein. The same volume of vehicle (0.9% normal saline) was injected into sham and I/R groups. Blood and liver tissue were gathered for serological and histopathological determination. RESULTS: Intestinal I/R led to severe liver injury manifested as a significant increase in serum AST and ALT levels; all of those were reduced by treatment with curcumin. Simultaneously, the activity of SOD in liver decreased after intestinal I/R, which was increased by curcumin treatment. On the other hand, curcumin reduced MPO activity of liver tissue, as well as serum IL-6 and TNF-α levels observably. This is in parallel with the decreased level of liver intercellular cell adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) expression. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that curcumin treatment attenuates liver lesion induced by intestinal I/R, attributable to the antioxidative and anti-inflammatory effect via inhibition of the NF-κB pathway.