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Curcumin Protects Dopaminergic Neuron Against LPS Induced Neurotoxicity in Primary Rat Neuron/Glia Culture

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Abstract

Using primary rat mesencephalic neuron-glia cultures as an in vitro model of Parkinson’s disease (PD), we tested the effect of curcumin, a natural dietary pigment with well-known anti-inflammation effects, on dopaminergic (DA) degeneration. Curcumin pretreatment mitigated LPS-induced DA neurotoxicity in a concentration-dependent manner and curcumin post-treatment also showed protective effect. Microglia depletion abolished this protective effect of curcumin, indicating that microglia play an important role in this effect. Supportively, observation by immunocytochemistry staining using OX-42 antibody showed that curcumin treatment inhibited LPS-induced morphological change of microglia. Besides, LPS-induced production of many proinflammatory factors and their gene expressions decreased dramatically after curcumin treatment. Results also revealed that curcumin treatment decreased LPS-induced activation of two transcription factors—nuclear factors κB (NF-κB) and activator protein-1 (AP-1). Taken together, our study implicated that curcumin might be a potential preventive and therapeutic strategy for inflammation-related neurodegenerative diseases.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Pharmacology and Chemistry, National Institute of Environmental, Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, PO Box 12233, Research Triangle Park, NC, 27709, USA

    Sufen Yang, Dan Zhang, Xiaoming Hu, Steven Qian, Belinda Wilson, Michelle Block & Jau-Shyong Hong

  2. National Center for Toxicogenomics, NIEHS, National Institutes of Health, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450001, P.R. China

    Zhengqin Yang

  3. Inorganic Carcinogenesis, Laboratory of Comparative Carcinogenesis, NCI at NIEHS, Research Triangle Park, NC, 27709, USA

    Jie Liu

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  1. Sufen Yang
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  9. Jau-Shyong Hong
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Correspondence to Jau-Shyong Hong.

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Special issue article in honor of Dr. Ji-Sheng Han.

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Yang, S., Zhang, D., Yang, Z. et al. Curcumin Protects Dopaminergic Neuron Against LPS Induced Neurotoxicity in Primary Rat Neuron/Glia Culture. Neurochem Res 33, 2044–2053 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11064-008-9675-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11064-008-9675-z

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