Curcumin exerts a protective effect against premature ovarian failure in mice. (April 2018) - Yan, Zhengjie
Abstract : This study was designed to investigate the protective effect of curcumin againstd -galactose (d -gal)-induced premature ovarian failure (POF) in mice. A mouse POF model was induced by subcutaneous injection ofd -gal (200 mg/kg/day) daily for 42 days. Mice in the curcumin group received bothd -gal treatment and intraperitoneal injection of curcumin (100 mg/kg/day) for 42 days. Ovarian function, oxidative stress and apoptosis were evaluated. The P, E2 and SOD levels were higher, and the FSH, LH and MDA levels were significantly lower in the curcumin group than those in thed -gal group. The proportion of primordial follicles was also significantly higher in the curcumin group than that in thed -gal group. In addition, curcumin treatment afterd -gal administration resulted in significantly lower Sod2, Cat, 8-OhdG, 4-HNE, NTY and senescence-associated protein P16 expression levels, higher Amh expression levels and less apoptosis in granulosa cells than was observed in thed -gal group. Moreover, the p-Akt, Nrf2 and HO-1 protein expression levels were significantly higher and the apoptosis-related cleaved caspase-3 and -9 protein expression levels were markedly lower in the curcumin group than in thed -gal group. In conclusion, curcumin effectively inhibitedd -gal-induced oxidative stress, apoptosis and ovarian injury via a mechanism involving the Nrf2/HO-1 and PI3K/Akt signaling pathways, suggesting that curcumin is a potential protective agent against POF.