Curcumin Alleviates Diabetic Cardiomyopathy in Experimental Diabetic Rats

Diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM), characterized by myocardial structural and functional changes, is an independent cardiomyopathy that develops in diabetic individuals. The present study was sought to investigate the effect of curcumin on modulating DCM and the mechanisms involved., respectively. Cardiac function was evaluated by serial echocardiography. Myocardial ultrastructure, fibrosis area and apoptosis were assessed by histopathologic analyses. Metabolic profiles, myocardial enzymes and oxidative stress were examined by biochemical tests. Inflammatory factors were detected by ELISA, and interrelated proteins were measured by western blot. ), raised inflammatory factor (TNF-α and IL-1β), enhanced apoptotic cell death (ratio of bax/bcl-2, caspase-3 activity and TUNEL), diminished Akt and GSK-3β phosphorylation. Remarkably, curcumin attenuated myocardial dysfunction, cardiac fibrosis, AGEs accumulation, oxidative stress, inflammation and apoptosis in the heart of diabetic rats. The inhibited phosphorylation of Akt and GSK-3β was also restored by curcumin treatment.Taken together, these results suggest that curcumin may have great therapeutic potential in the treatment of DCM, and perhaps other cardiovascular disorders, by attenuating fibrosis, oxidative stress, inflammation and cell death. Furthermore, Akt/GSK-3β signaling pathway may be involved in mediating these effects