Role of CREB in curcumin improve learning and memory dysfunction in rats induced by gp120

Aim:To investigate the role of CREB in curcumin improve learning and memory dysfunction in rats induced by gp120.Methods: The SD rats were divided into six groups: control group,sham group,model group,low dose curcumin group,middle dose curcumin group and high dose curcumin group.Except control and sham group,the others four groups received slowly 5 μL/d gp120 which dissolved in artificial cerebrospinal fluid(ACSF) for 3 days.From the fourth day,the rats of low,middle,high dose curcumin groups were treated with 50,100,200 mg/kg curcumin every day,respectively.The others groups were treated with redistilled water.The treatment will last for 14 days.Subsequently,the water maze test and pCREB immunohistochemical staining in hippocampus were applied to evaluate the effect of curcumin on the rats.Results: ① Space probe test showed that the rats in model group had a bit clumsy and spent a significantly longer time to seek the target quadrant,and that the rats in model group had the shorter retention time and less frequency of accrossing target quadrant compared with those in control group(P0.05).However,the rats in low,middle,high dose curcumin groups spent a significantly shorter time to seek the target quadrant and had the longer retention time and more frequency of accrossing target quadrant compared with those in model group(P0.05),and low dose curcumin group was better than the other two groups(P0.05).② Immunohistochemical staining showed that the expressions of pCREB in model group decreased compared with the control groups(P0.01),while the expressions of pCREB in low、middle and high dose curcumin groups increased compared with the model groups.Conclusion:The mechanism of curcumin improving learning and memory dysfunction induced by gp120 maybe related with upregulated the expression of phosphorylated CREB.