Abstract
Curcumin has protective effects against toxic agents and shows preventive properties for various diseases. Particulate material with an aerodynamic diameter of ≤10 μm (PM10) and titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2-NPs) induce endothelial dysfunction and activation. We explored whether curcumin is able to attenuate different events related to endothelial activation. This includes adhesion, expression of adhesion molecules and oxidative stress induced by PM10 and TiO2-NPs. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) were treated with 1, 10 and 100 μM curcumin for 1 h and then exposed to PM10 at 3 μg/cm2 or TiO2-NPs at 10 μg/cm2. Cell adhesion was evaluated by co-culture with U937 human myelomonocytic cells. Adhesion molecules expression was measured by flow cytometry after 3 or 24 h of exposure. Oxidative stress was determined by 2,7-dichlorodihydrofluorescein (H2DCF) oxidation. PM10 and TiO2-NPs induced the adhesion of U937 cells and the expression of E- and P-selectins, intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) and platelet-endothelial cell adhesion molecule-1 (PECAM-1). The expression of E- and P-selectins matched the adhesion of monocytes to HUVEC after 3 h. In HUVEC treated with 1 or 10 μM curcumin, the expression of adhesion molecules and monocytes adhesion was significantly diminished. Curcumin also partially reduced the H2DCF oxidation induced by PM10 and TiO2-NPs. Our results suggest an anti-inflammatory and antioxidant role by curcumin attenuating the activation caused on endothelial cells by exposure to particles. Therefore, curcumin could be useful in the treatment of diseases where an inflammatory process and endothelial activation are involved.
Highlights
Curcumin is a phenolic antioxidant extracted from the rhizome of Curcuma longa
We have previously demonstrated that Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) exposed to PM10 or TiO2-NPs increased the expression of adhesion molecules and the adhesion of U937 cells inducing endothelial dysfunction and activation [34, 35]
Our results showed that 1 and 10 μM curcumin did not have effect on adhesion of U937 cells to HUVEC (Fig 1); it was interesting that 100 μM curcumin increased adhesion by 120% compared to control
Summary
Curcumin is a phenolic antioxidant extracted from the rhizome of Curcuma longa. Curcumin is able to scavenge superoxide anion, hydrogen peroxide, singlet oxygen; nitric oxide, peroxynitrite anion and peroxyl radicals; hydroxyl radicals [10,11,12,13,14,15]. Together these effects could partly explain some of the cytoprotective effects of curcumin; coupled with its chemical structure, having functional groups such as β-diketone group [16], carbon-carbon double bonds and phenol rings with hydroxyl and methoxy groups [17]. Curcumin induces the nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2 factor (Nrf2) [18] and the expression of cytoprotective proteins such as superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione reductase, glutathione peroxidase, heme oxygenase 1, glutathione-S-transferase, the reduced form of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH), and quinone oxide reductase 1 [19]
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