Research Article Curcumin Attenuates Angiotensin II-Induced Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm by Inhibition of Inflammatory Response and ERK Signaling Pathways

Copyright © 2014 QingQing Hao et al.This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Background and Objectives. Curcumin has long been used to treat age-related diseases, such as atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease. In this study, we explored the effects of curcumin on the development of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). Methods. ApoE−/ − mice were randomly divided into 3 groups: AngII group, AngII + curcumin (AngII + Cur) group (100mg/kg/d), and the control group. Miniosmotic pumps were implanted subcutaneously in ApoE−/ − mice to deliver AngII for 28 days. After 4-week treatment, abdominal aortas with AAA were obtained for H&E staining, immunohistochemistry, and Western blotting. Results. The results showed that curcumin treatment significantly decreased the occurrence of AAA.The levels of macrophage infiltration, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), and tumor necrosis factors