Abstract:

Objective To explore the therapeutic effect of curcumin on vascular remodeling of rats with spontaneous hypertension. Methods A total of 42 male SHR rats at 12 weeks of age were selected and randomly divided into six groups (n=7). Rats of five curcumin groups were given different doses (25, 50, 100, 200, and 400 mg/kg) of curcumin dissolved in l mL distilled water daily. Rats of one placebo group were given 1 mL distilled water daily. Another 7 WKy rats with same sex and age were used as the controls. Blood pressure of rats was measured before experiment and 6 and 12 weeks after experiment. Slices of the carotid artery of rats were stained by HE after 12 weeks. Media thickness (MT), lumen diameter (LD), and medial cross-sectional area (MSCA) of the carotid artery were measured. The expression of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) in the carotid artery was detected by immunohistochemical methods. Results The differences of systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) of curcumin groups and placebo group before experiment and 6 and 12 weeks after experiment were not statistically significant (P>0.05). SBP and DBP of curcumin groups and placebo group were higher than those of the WKy control group (P<0.01). Compared to the placebo group, the MT of curcumin groups with doses of 400 and 200 mg/kg was thinner (P<0.01) and the LD/MT was higher (P<0.01); the LD/MT of curcumin groups with doses of 100 and 50 mg/kg was higher (P<0.05); the LD of curcumin group with doses of 200 mg/kg was larger (P<0.05) and MSCA was smaller (P<0.05); and the expression of MMP-9 of curcumin group with doses of 400 mg/kg was higher (P<0.05). Conclusion To some extent, curcumin can alleviate the carotid vascular remodeling of rats with spontaneous hypertension. The up-regulation of MMP-9 expression in carotid artery intima maybe one of the mechanisms.

Key words: curcumin, spontaneous hypertension, vascular remodeling, matrix metalloproteinase-9, rat