Effect Of Curcumin On ICAM-1 And Relative Serum Indexes In Rats With Metabolic Syndrome

AIM: To investigate the therapetutic effects of curcumin on MS in ratsand the underlying mechanism.METHODS: Thirty SD male rats were randomly separated into 3 groups(n=10 in each one): control, model and curcumin groups. Rats in modeland curcumin groups were operated on two kidneys, one-clipped toinduce renal hypertension and fed with a high fructose diet for 4 weeks toinduce MS. Sham-operated rats were taken at random as non-infractioncontrol. After intragastric administration of either curcumin (200mg/kg/d)in curcumin group or saline (200mg/kg/d) in model and control groupsfor 4 weeks, the level of serum glucose, insulin and lipid was tested. TheslCAM-1 level was measured by ELISA and ICAM-1 mRNA level inartery was tested by RT-PCR. RESULTS: Compared with the control,rats in model group had higher level of slCAM-1, serum glucose, insulin,lipid (P＜0.01), and curcumin restored these indexes. The ICAM-1 mRNAexpression in model group was higher than that in sham-operatedrats(P＜0.01); while in curcumin group, ICAM-1 mRNA level wascomparable to that in control group(P＞0.05).CONCLUSION: MS rats can be induced by operating on two kidneys,one-clipped and feeding with high fructose diet. Curcumin reduces serum glucose, insulin and lipid of MS rats and it may be related to thesuppression of ICAM-1 mRNA expression and the improvement of bloodvessel endothelium function.