Institute of Biochemistry, Life Sciences Center, Vilnius University, Sauletekio av. 7, LT-10257, Vilnius, Lithuania.
Institute of Biosciences, Life Sciences Center, Vilnius University, Sauletekio av. 7, LT-10257, Vilnius, Lithuania.
BMC Complement Med Ther. 2021 Jan 21;21(1):39. doi: 10.1186/s12906-021-03207-3.
Curcumin, a natural polyphenolic substance, has been known for more than two millennia as having strong anti-inflammatory activity towards multiple ailments, including arthritis. The main drawback of curcumin is its poor solubility in water, which leads to low intestinal absorption and minimal bioavailability. In this study, we aimed to compare the anti-arthritic in vivo effect of different curcumin preparations - basic curcumin extract, micellar curcumin, curcumin mixture with piperine, and microencapsulated curcumin.
Arthritis was induced in Wistar rats by complete Freund's adjuvant, and the severity of arthritis was evaluated daily using the arthritis score system. Curcumin preparations were given to animals per os daily for 20 consecutive days, starting at 6th day after arthritis induction. To determine the inflammatory background, pro-inflammatory cytokines were determined using the ELISA test. In addition, hematologic test, weight change, and limb swelling were tracked.
Our results indicate that curcumin had a rather weak effect on arthritis progression in the Wistar rat model, microencapsulated curcumin effectively prevented the progression of arthritis - the disease stabilized after 10 days of supplementation. It also reduced the levels of immune cells (neutrophils and leukocytes), as well as pro-inflammatory cytokines - TNFα, IL-1, and IL-6, which levels were close to arthritis-free control. Other formulations of curcumin had lower or no effect on arthritis progression.
Our study shows that the same concentrations of curcumin had a distinctly expressed positive anti-inflammatory effect depending on the form of its delivery. Specifically, we found that microencapsulated curcumin had the most promising effect for treatment.
姜黄素是一种天然多酚物质，两千多年来一直被认为具有很强的抗炎活性，可用于多种疾病，包括关节炎。姜黄素的主要缺点是其在水中的溶解度低，导致肠道吸收低，生物利用度低。在这项研究中，我们旨在比较不同姜黄素制剂 - 基础姜黄素提取物、胶束姜黄素、姜黄素与胡椒碱混合物和微胶囊化姜黄素的体内抗关节炎作用。
通过完全弗氏佐剂诱导 Wistar 大鼠关节炎，并使用关节炎评分系统每天评估关节炎的严重程度。从关节炎诱导后的第 6 天开始，每天通过口服给予动物连续 20 天不同的姜黄素制剂。为了确定炎症背景，使用 ELISA 测试测定促炎细胞因子。此外，还跟踪了血液学测试、体重变化和肢体肿胀。
我们的结果表明，姜黄素对 Wistar 大鼠关节炎模型的进展作用较弱，微胶囊化姜黄素有效阻止了关节炎的进展 - 补充 10 天后疾病稳定。它还降低了免疫细胞（中性粒细胞和白细胞）和促炎细胞因子 TNFα、IL-1 和 IL-6 的水平，这些水平接近无关节炎对照。其他姜黄素制剂对关节炎进展的影响较低或没有。
我们的研究表明，相同浓度的姜黄素根据其传递形式表现出明显的阳性抗炎作用。具体来说，我们发现微胶囊化姜黄素具有最有前途的治疗效果。
