This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 33/2/398    most recent 09031936.00142407v1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Permissions Request Permissions Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Web of Science (4) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Sun, J. Articles by Bai, C. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Sun, J. Articles by Bai, C.

Effects of curcumin or dexamethasone on lung ischaemia–reperfusion injury in rats

¹ Dept of Pulmonary Medicine, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, and ² Dept of Pathology, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.

CORRESPONDENCE: C. Bai, Dept of Pulmonary Medicine, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, 180 Feng Lin Road, Shanghai, 200032, China. Fax: 86 2154961729. E-mail: bai.chunxue{at}zs-hospital.sh.cn

Keywords: Curcumin, ischaemia–reperfusion, lung, microvascular permeability, nuclear factor-B, oxidative stress

Received: October 28, 2007
Accepted August 29, 2008

The present study aimed to investigate potential effects of curcumin (CUR) and dexamethasone (DXM) on ischaemia–reperfusion (I/R) induced lung injury in rats.

Experimental rats were pre-treated with a single i.p. dose of vehicle, CUR (50 mg·kg^–1 or 200 mg·kg^–1) or DXM (5 mg·kg^–1), 2 h before anaesthesia and subjected to left lung hilus clamping with 90-min ischaemia followed by 4 h of reperfusion.

Pre-treatment with CUR (200 mg·kg^–1) or DXM markedly attenuated I/R-induced barrier disruption, lung oedema, tissue inflammation, hypoxaemia 4 h after reperfusion, and overactivation of nuclear factor-B, inflammatory cytokines, myeloperoxidase and malondialdehyde.

It appears that curcumin attenuates acute lung injury, probably through improving oxidative stress and inhibiting nuclear factor-B-mediated expression of inflammatory cytokines. Thus, curcumin may be an alternative therapy for improving the outcomes of ischaemia–reperfusion-induced lung injury.