Murugan Pidaran, Pari Leelavinothan
Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, Annamalai University, Annamalai Nagar-608 002, Tamilnadu, India.
Basic Clin Pharmacol Toxicol. 2007 Oct;101(4):241-5. doi: 10.1111/j.1742-7843.2007.00109.x.
Curcumin is the most active component of turmeric. It is believed that curcumin is a potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent. Tetrahydrocurcumin is one of the major metabolites of curcumin that exhibits many of the same physiologic and pharmacological activities as curcumin and in some systems may exert greater antioxidant activity than curcumin. Oral administration of tetrahydrocurcumin at 80 mg/kg body weight to diabetic rats for 45 days resulted in a significant reduction in blood glucose and significant increase in plasma insulin levels. In addition, the diabetic rats had decreased levels of plasma total protein, albumin, globulin and albumin/globulin ratio as compared to control rats. After treatment with tetrahydrocurcumin and curcumin total protein, albumin, globulin and albumin/globulin ratio were brought back to near normal. The activities of hepatic and renal markers were significantly elevated in diabetic rats as compared to control rats, and treatment with tetrahydrocurcumin and curcumin has reversed these parameters to near normal levels. In diabetic rats, the decreased levels of urea, uric acid and creatinine with increased levels of albumin and urine volume was observed, and treatment with tetrahydrocurcumin and curcumin reversed these parameters to near normal. Tetrahydrocurcumin appeared to have a better protective effect when compared to curcumin.
姜黄素是姜黄中最具活性的成分。人们认为姜黄素是一种有效的抗氧化剂和抗炎剂。四氢姜黄素是姜黄素的主要代谢产物之一，它具有许多与姜黄素相同的生理和药理活性，并且在某些系统中可能比姜黄素具有更强的抗氧化活性。以80毫克/千克体重的剂量给糖尿病大鼠口服四氢姜黄素45天，结果血糖显著降低，血浆胰岛素水平显著升高。此外，与对照大鼠相比，糖尿病大鼠的血浆总蛋白、白蛋白、球蛋白水平以及白蛋白/球蛋白比值均降低。用四氢姜黄素和姜黄素治疗后，总蛋白、白蛋白、球蛋白水平以及白蛋白/球蛋白比值恢复到接近正常水平。与对照大鼠相比，糖尿病大鼠的肝和肾标志物活性显著升高，用四氢姜黄素和姜黄素治疗可使这些参数恢复到接近正常水平。在糖尿病大鼠中，观察到尿素、尿酸和肌酐水平降低，白蛋白水平和尿量增加，用四氢姜黄素和姜黄素治疗可使这些参数恢复到接近正常。与姜黄素相比，四氢姜黄素似乎具有更好的保护作用。
